


we can get there if we try

by CitrineGator



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life But The AI Is Aware, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Animal trauma specifically, Betrayal, Chapter 20 is jus some fun facts, Chuck E Cheese debate, Coomer n Bubby get to be Gordons adoptive parents, Dancing!, First Kiss, Fluff, Gordon has trauma!, Gordon is just trying to protect everybody., He/ They pronouns fo Benrey, Horde Battles, Hurt/Comfort, Joshua is a riolu, Legendary Pokemon, M/M, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Evolution, Self-Sacrifice, THESE MF'S FINALLY DID IT, Two bros hugging it out, and i love him, and they all hav pokemon teams.., as a treat, fear!, gordon researcher man, i prommy, injuries, man. theres a puzzle, on brand gordon worrying, reconvening and apologies, sharing a tent.. :), they ar both oblivious idiots..., they dating.. :), they deserve soft moments okay.., this will have a good ending though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 55,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrineGator/pseuds/CitrineGator
Summary: Gordon Freeman, the leader of a local Pokémon gym and a retired field researcher, gets back into adventuring with the help of a few new friends!
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 274
Kudos: 332





	1. pokémon's in the house!

**Author's Note:**

> if you see me starting another multi chapter fic while im in the middle of writing another one right now. no u don't.  
> anyway! pokemon iz my favorite and im p sure nobody has made a fic for this before and i was struck w inspiration so! *holds this in my hands* for y'all

Gordon Freeman wasn’t a bad trainer. Honest! None of his Pokémon hopped out of their Pokéballs unless asked, and he was pretty decent at training too! His newest Pokémon though, a baby riolu he’d named Joshua, was seemingly determined to prove him wrong. He kicked and fought Gordon over every little thing, and it was starting to get more than a little frustrating. Even his incineroar hadn’t put up this much of a fuss when training her, and they were _known_ for being stubborn. 

He’d been a field researcher before switching over to training for gosh’s sake! He’d chased a togekiss for nearly a week straight just to figure out nesting patterns! It should not be this hard to get the little riolu in the bath! He’d only just let Joshua out of his Pokéball for the morning when the riolu’d noticed the back door was slightly propped open and made a mad dash for it, only just managing not to trip Bubby over in his hurry. And of course, Joshua just _had_ to roll through the garden of berries Gordon had planted a week before. He would be lucky if any of the plants survived the destruction Joshua’d wrought. 

Instead of trying to aid him in any way though, Joshua scooped up a paw-full of water and swiped it at Gordon’s face. He grimaced down at his already soaked shirt then leveled Joshua with a sharp glare, “Buddy, you are still _covered_ in dirt, I can’t just let you run around the house like this, you’ll get all the furniture dirty!” 

Joshua, not caring in the slightest, smacked at the edges of the tub and let loose a drawn-out whine. 

“I _know_ ,” Gordon sighed, settling back on his heels to scratch at the back of his head, “But neither of us get to leave till you're cleaned up.” 

Gordon didn’t hear the door opening behind him, but he jumped at the hand on his shoulder. Darnold smiled down at him and Joshua, his lab coat surprisingly absent, and he almost wondered if Bubby’s magmortar had gotten to it again till he noticed the arms of it tied around his waist. 

“You want some help?” 

Gordon gave Joshua a cursory glance, gauging how the little riolu’s interest had peaked slightly at his friend’s entrance, “Go ahead,” he finally lamented, shifting off to the side so Darnold could crouch down next to the tub as well. 

Joshua barked happily as Darnold patted the top of his head, scooping up some of the soapy water to wash over the riolu’s fur. Darnold's toxicroak trailed into the bathroom after him, jumping up atop the counter to perch there while his trainer washed Joshua. 

“Most of the roots are fine,” Darnold said after a second, pouring a bit more soap into his palm to scrub onto Joshuas head, “Just some torn up leaves and branches; if you add some vitamins into the soil they should perk back up. You mostly did hardier berries, right?” 

Gordon nodded, patting his thigh absently as his mind drifted back to the berry bushes he’d planted, “Yeah, I think so. Just rawst, oran and lum berries.” 

Darnold nodded, turning back a little to grab the towel off the top of the toilet and lifted Joshua up and out of the water with it. Gordon smiled as the riolu wriggled in the hold of the towel while Darnold dried him off. 

“You should be okay then, just- oh!” Handing Joshua back to him, Darnold moved to drain the bath, glancing back over his shoulder as he did so, “Dr. Coomer wanted to talk to you about something; it seemed kind of important so I can finish up here for you if you want?” 

“That’d be great, thanks. You know what it was about?” Gordon asked, shuffling Joshua a bit in his arm. 

Darnold just shrugged, “Something with your gym I think? Don’t really know, he was on the phone with somebody though.” 

“Alright, thanks again though.” 

Trotting from the room, Gordon headed off in the direction of the lab. They didn’t really _need_ a lab inside their house when there was a whole separate building for their actual lab in town, but Dr. Coomer claimed he worked better at home, and it did save them some time occasionally, so Gordon wasn’t about to complain. He noticed Joshua was starting to get fidgety again, so Gordon took a slight detour and trotted up the stairs to his right, heading in the direction of his room. 

Setting Joshua down for a moment, he toweled him off once more, making sure the riolu wasn’t going to drip water everywhere, then ducked into his bedroom to grab his prosthetic. He’d had to take it off to wash Joshua, which was a pain, but not nearly as incapacitating as when he’d first lost the limb. Flexing his hand experimentally, he trotted back out into the hallway and scooped Joshua back up into his arms as he made his way back downstairs. 

Distantly he wondered if the call for his gym was about not being as active in it any more. He came and fought when he had challengers, but there really wasn’t any reason for him to make an appearance if there wasn’t. It wasn’t like there’d been any challengers who’d beat him so far, so maybe the call was to ask him to step down to give others a chance; it wouldn’t exactly be an unexpected request. 

He felt his heart sink with apprehension as he pushed the door to the lab open. Dr. Coomer was positioned at the far side of the room with his back to Gordon, he seemed to be hunched over something. Gordon knocked on the still open door to alert Coomer of his presence before padding over. 

Dr. Coomer looked back at him, already wearing his trademark grin, “Ah, hello Gordon!” 

“Hey Dr. Coomer,” he said, letting Joshua down so he could scamper around the lab, “What’d you need?” 

“Well Gordon,” he started, turning fully, “You’ve got another challenger at your gym!” 

Gordon let out an internal sigh of relief, easing over slightly on the long lab table at his side, “Wouldn’t they usually call me for that?” 

Dr. Coomer’s smile grew, “They would! But this is a special match! I can’t confirm the details to you just yet but Tommy will be coming to watch! I would be there if I could but we do have another group of trainers coming in this afternoon for a lesson.” 

The name rung a vague bell but Gordon couldn’t quite place it just yet, it was probably just some kid who’d just started training and was watching for strategy or something, “What time do I need to be down there? Don’t want to keep anybody waiting-” 

“Gordon, they're already there!” 

He jolted, “They- am I late?” 

“Yep!” 

Gordon groaned, dragging his palm down his face, “Alright, alright, I’ll see you guys in a bit I guess,” glancing around the room for Joshua, he withdrew the riolu’s Pokéball put him back inside, “Just make sure to tell me earlier next time! Love you!” 

“I won't, love you too!” Dr. Coomer said chipperly as he left. Dr. Coomer was a good guy, more of a Father figure than he would ever admit, but he was pretty sure he knew anyway. Him and Bubby had basically taken him under their wing after he’d been kicked from his house years ago, so seeing them as parents wasn’t _too_ weird. The more he thought about it though the more odd the notion seemed to him, so he decided to drop it. 

He’d worked as their field assistant for a while, up until he lost his arm two years ago and had switched to Pokémon training instead. He was infinitely grateful to Darnold for stepping in for him after his change in occupation, but he couldn’t deny the trickle of guilt that he still felt if he thought about it too hard. 

Racing back to his bedroom, he swiped his Pokéballs from their spot on his desk and hurried out the door. Luckily his gym wasn’t too far from their house, it helped that it wasn’t an ‘official’ gym, and more of just a community run one, so they weren't as rigid with their rules; but he didn’t want to keep the people there waiting any longer than he had to. 

By the time he’d finally arrived, he slightly relaxed, seeing as there wasn’t a whole crowd gathered to watch the match. It probably had something to do with Dr. Coomer saying it was some sort of ‘special’ match. When he entered the doors though, he felt all his earlier anxiety return tenfold. 

Not at the person in the battle ring, they were fine, kind of pale looking with a beanie and dark shaggy hair that partially covered their eyes. No, it was at the spectator. The name Tommy clicked immediately as their golden eyes locked with his own. 

_Tommy_ fucking _Coolatta_ , the _Champion_. God, he should have connected the dots earlier than this. The name was _familiar_ , because it was practically plastered on every fucking billboard in the region. 

Tommy for his part didn’t seem phased at all and trotted over jovially, his giant shiny arcanine Sunkist padding by his side, “Hi Mr. Freeman!” 

“Uh, hey,” he said very smartly, “Are... What’s this all about?” 

Tommy glanced around his gym quickly, “Well, I was uhm, I was going through the past Champions records pretty l- pretty recently and I noticed you uhm, you cleared all eight gyms but you never challenged the Champion? Or even uh, went through Victory Road. Which it’s- it’s not a _bad_ thing, I was just curious as to why! From the recordings I’ve watched, you’re a pretty good trainer, so I wanted to see for myself I guess.” 

Gordon nodded a little too quickly betraying his nerves, “Oh, that’d- yeah that’d be cool, do- should I go right now?” 

Tommy glanced back to the person back in the arena, “I mean, if you’re okay to go right now? I did kind of come over pretty abruptly,” Tommy let out a soft laugh then looked back to him, “When you’re ready.” 

Forcing out a nod Gordon moved down into the ring. The person there watched him curiously before offering out a hand to shake. Gordon did so evenly, trying not to appear any more uneasy than he already was, “I’m Gordon.” 

“Benrey,” they said, retracting their hand quickly and turning to pace to the other side of the arena. 

Okay, alright, he could chill, this was fine, just the champion popping in to watch a match of his. It was fine. Retreating to his own side of the arena, Gordon withdrew Joshua’s Pokéball and let him out so he could watch the proceedings of the match. 

The little riolu peered up curiously at him but seemed content to observe for now. Facing the center of the ring Gordon finally scrutinized the person across from him. They were wearing some obscure looking gaming shirt, some loose shorts and a socks and sandles combo that Gordon was tempted to laugh at. They stared back evenly at him and withdrew a Pokéball from their pocket, reminding Gordon what they were here for in the first place. 

It wasn’t always a good strategy to judge someone on their style choice for what Pokémon they’d have, but Gordon felt pretty confident about sending his incineroar, Shari out first though. 

Benrey sent out an absol in return and Gordon felt a little burst of delight at his hunch being proven correct as of so far. If he was right, he’d probably be a dark or psychic type trainer, though he wouldn’t kick electric out the window either. 

After a beat, Benrey’s absol surged forward, the ground behind her lifting in the beginning of a rock-slide. Shari couldn’t move fast enough and the rocks collided with her sending her skidding back a few paces. But before the absol could fully retreat Gordon was calling out for a flamethrower and Shari was charging forward. The absol froze and took the full brunt of the move staggering away after a moment only to round on Shari in close quarters and unleash an ice-beam. Gordon winced at the sight but with another flamethrower the absol was down. 

Benrey seemed to finally see him, his eyes glinting strangely in the overhead fluorescent lighting as he shifted his stance to be a little straighter. 

The next Pokémon he sent out was a porygon-z which Gordon sent out his chesnaught to combat instead. Steadily, he wore his way through his competitors' team and with each win he could feel his confidence growing. Joshua would chime in with bark of support at times and every time it would bolster his courage a little more. 

Benrey finally was on his last Pokémon and Gordon couldn’t even hide his prideful grin at this point. Only it near immediately slipped from his face after Benrey sent out his final Pokémon. 

The Pokémon howled as it landed on the turf, its sharp teeth bared in a false smile. His granbull Daisy glanced back to him apprehensively but he was frozen staring at the midnight lycanroc. Dimly he recognized it wasn’t the same color as the one that’d taken his arm, but the hypnotizing eyes were still the same. A red, glaring gaze that pinned him in place despite his mind screaming for him to run. Taking advantage of his hesitation, the lycanroc charged forward at Benrey’s shout. 

As the lycanroc bared its teeth in a cruel snarl, Gordon felt a white bolt of fear and pain run through him in equal measure because it was _happening_ again. 

He’d followed the lycanroc too closely through its territory and it finally rounded on him. Fangs snapped inches away from his face as he scrambled back, lifting his arms in an attempt to shield himself from the Pokémon's maw. And it’d clamped down on his forearm- and it'd _tore_ \- 

Gordon collapsed forward on himself, breathing coming in ragged pants as he tried to quell the electric pain running through his stump. Pulling the prosthetic loose, it clattered to the soft ground as he dug his nails into his skin. 

“ _Stop the fucking match_!” 

Shame coursed through him at the wobbling in his voice and the fact he’d just broke down in front of two complete strangers, not to mention the _Champion_. It was fine, it was fucking _fine_ \- he felt a hesitant pull on the hem of his jeans and cracked open an eye to look down at Joshua, staring at him with concern. 

Raking in a trembling breath he gingerly crouched down and inspected his prosthetic, thankfully, finding it unbroken. Fitting it carefully back onto his forearm, he fumbled with the Pokéball on his belt and pulled Daisy back into hers. Carefully lifting Joshua into his arms, he kept his eyes averted as he started toward the back door, “I’ll... Be back in a minute.” 

Distantly he heard Tommy calling out an apology, but he just shook his head, shifting Joshua in his grip before proceeding toward the door again. As soon as he was out of the building, he fell back against the brick wall tucking his chin over Joshuas shoulder as the residual fear bled out of him, replacing itself with a deeper sort of mortification. Because even if the gut instinct response was justified, it didn’t mean either of the others understood what had gone on. He could just... Go back in and apologize for wasting their time. Let them carry on with whatever business they had elsewhere. 

Drawing in another calming breath he absently scratched at the back of Joshuas ear as the little riolu stared him down intently. Finally, he blinked, letting out a rough sounding laugh, “Yeah, I know bud. I’ll... Go back in a second.” 

But for now, he pulled Joshua back close to his chest and tried to ignore his prominent heartbeat still thudding through his arm.


	2. mean no harm bro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *me updating this, already foaming at the mouth* hi :)  
> getting obsessed with pokémon again! so chapters Might come out kinda quickly but also. idk. schedule changes every day. i update at random. when insanity strikes.

Gordon waited another minute, keeping up his one-sided conversation with Joshua until he figured he’d calmed down enough to go in and at least _try_ to explain. Setting Joshua back down, he kept ahold of the riolu’s paw as he walked back to the door, stopping short as it opened before he could grab ahold of the handle. 

He stared at Benrey in surprise his heart-rate jacking up for a moment before he realized that he’d put his lycanroc back into its Pokéball. 

Before he was able to stammer out an excuse Benrey glanced to Joshua then back to him, “Yo, you got a uh, permit for that one?” 

Gordon blinked, “You- A permit for my Pokémon?” 

Benrey nodded, seemingly committed to whatever he’d just started, “Yeah uh, didn’t use em’ in battle so you… You coulda’ stolen em’. So, permit? Permit for the riolu please?” 

Gordon laughed more out of confusion than anything, “Dude, you _saw_ me take him out of his Pokéball right? Like, he’s very obviously my Pokémon.” 

Squinting, Benrey crossed his arms over his chest, “Yeah, I still think you’re a thief. Bad thief guy stealing other people’s Pokémon, gonna have to uh, follow you. Make sure you’re not bad.” 

“That- this is _my_ gym man! I couldn’t be a Pokémon thief and run a gym it doesn’t- That-” Gordon sighed, “Fine, fine, you can follow me or whatever, I’ve… Can I come back inside now?” 

Benrey watched him for a moment longer before unfolding his arms and shuffling aside, still holding the door open, “Yeah sure. Left Tommy all up in there though. Making my bro said ain’t cool of you.” 

Instead of puzzling out an answer to that just yet, Gordon focused on leading Joshua back into the building, shame beginning to buzz back through him as he saw the Champion still sitting up in the stands. Tommy’s hand stilled on top of Sunkist’s golden fur as he glanced back up, “Oh! Uhm are- is everything alright for the moment Mr. Freeman?” 

“For the moment,” Gordon conceded, padding up the steps at the side of the arena to meet Tommy in the stands. 

“Sorry for up and running out like that,” he sighed after taking a seat down a space away from the Champion, “I… Lost my arm a few years ago in an accident and the uh, the lycanroc reminded me of it. Sorry.” 

Tommy nodded, going back to petting his arcanine for a moment, “It’s alright I uhm… I sort of knew?” Tommy glanced over to him for a quick second before averting his stare again, “I mean, it wasn’t really publicly- it wasn’t super disclosed information but I’m a big fan of your old field work and kind of pieced it together myself. I probably should have warned you before-hand but uhm… Unexpected issues do- it’s a show your true colors sort of thing I suppose.” 

Gordon frowned, releasing Joshua’s little paw so he could link his hands together, “So… What are you both here for?” 

Sighing, Tommy looked out to Benrey who was not-so-casually leaning on the wall of the gym a short distance away, “Like I said Mr. Freeman, I’m a big fan of your research work that you did, specifically on the uhm- on mew.” 

Letting out a short exhale, Gordon shook his head, “I stepped away from all that when I lost my arm. It… I don’t think I can jump right back into it all, especially after having been gone for so long.” 

“I would disagree Mr. Freeman!” 

Gordon glanced up sharply, an eyebrow raised in suspicion, “Because I handled that practice battle _so well_?” He snorted sinking lower in the seat and flicking his gaze up to the ceiling, “If I couldn’t handle myself in the battle, I definitely couldn’t back in the field.” 

Tommy shook his head, “You- you knew your limits out there. You didn’t rush out and not come back or just tell us to leave either. Mr. Freeman, with all due respect, I think you’re plenty ready.” 

“It still doesn’t explain why you would need _my_ help. I mean, you’re the Champion and there’s plenty of other, more fit researchers still working out there. I haven’t even looked at any of that stuff in years,” that bit was a lie, he kept up on recent possible sightings and reviewed old texts from time to time. A part of Gordon still missed hunting through forests for any traces of the mythical Pokémon, but a bigger part of him had resigned himself to the idea that he wasn’t going to be going back out there again. A mechanical arm would only be a hinderance in exploration and he wasn’t going to knowingly drag a whole team down because of it. 

Tommy cast a quick look to Benrey again who was pointedly looking away this time, “Uhm, well, in the last paper that you published you- you said you had a possible location you were going to visit? And a uh… A new _source_ told me that it might be correct. So, with all the research that you put into that area I figured that you would- you’d be useful to bring on board!” 

Gordon watched Benrey shift uncomfortably from the edge of his vision, “Why now? I mean, there would have to be some new development to bring this all back up; my last official paper was published two years ago man.” 

Now it was Tommy’s turn to be uncomfortable, “Well… There’s been sort of an upswing in, uh, criminal activity, I guess? There’s a… Group right now trying to find and capture mew, and as the Champion it’s uh, it’s my duty I guess to try and stop them. So, I was hoping I could get your help with this Mr. Freeman. I get if you- if you don’t really want to do this but…” 

As Tommy trailed off, Gordon watched in a thoughtful silence as Joshua slipped away from his side and padded from him toward Benrey, still leaning against the wall, “Could… I get a day to think about this?” He asked hesitantly as Benrey crouched down to pet Joshua. 

Tommy visibly perked up from the edge of his vision, “Of course! I can meet you back here tomorrow if that’d be alright?” 

Finally, Gordon looked back to Tommy, “Yeah, that’d be good. It was… Nice meeting you, I’ll uh, see you tomorrow then.” 

Tommy gave him a friendly parting wave as he stood and padded back over to where Benrey was still petting Joshua. Upon realizing his approach Benrey stiffened slightly and jerked back upright, resuming their faux relaxed pose leaning against the wall, “Sup.” 

Joshua’s ruby gaze flicked from Benrey to him for a moment before he finally trotted back over to Gordon, holding his paws up toward him. And with how nice he was being at the moment, Gordon easily complied, carefully scooping the riolu back up into his arms, “Sorry for bolting out on you a bit ago,” Gordon said quickly, “I’m not usually prone to that sort of thing.” 

Benrey shrugged, “S’ fine, you uh, headed for the Pokémon center?” 

Gordon nodded, “Yeah, you going that way too?” 

Benrey fixed him with a flat stare, “Yeah duh, gotta make sure you aren’t gonna’ steal. Thief guy going into a Pokémon center to take peoples Pokémon ain’t cool. Keepin’ an eye on you.” 

Snorting out a laugh, Gordon turned waving for Benrey to follow, “Whatever man, let’s go.” 

“Tommy!” Benrey called out as he followed Gordon toward the front door, “I’m going!” 

“Have fun!” Tommy yelled back wearing a grin, “I’ll uhm, I’ll meet up with you at the hotel alright?” 

Benrey gave him a sharp nod then turned to Gordon once more, “Alright let’s go. Don’t hold up the line.” 

Gordon shook his head and started out of the gym walking toward the local Pokémon center. Benrey kept shooting him uncomfortable glances as they went, so finally Gordon took the initiative to try and start up a conversation to fill the empty air, “So how long have you known-” 

“Yeah, I don’t think you know where you’re going,” Benrey interrupted quickly, shoving his thumbs into his pockets, “Stealy boy trying to… Get me away from the gym so you can commit crimes? You a sore looser? Mad that you couldn’t win? Bet you were. Going to steal about it to make yourself feel better?” 

Tossing Benrey an incredulous stare he waved to the mostly vacant street ahead of them, “Dude, the Pokémon center is literally _right_ there.” 

Benrey nodded as if that confirmed anything at all and trotted the short distance away holding the door open for him, “Yeah, sure, say what you want, go on inside.” 

Shaking his head for what must have been the hundredth time, Gordon proceeded on inside the building and passed his five Pokéballs to the nurse behind the counter. He could feel Benrey’s eyes on him still, but he elected to pretend that he didn’t, waiting the few short seconds for his Pokémon to finish healing before the nurse passed his Pokéballs back to him. He stepped to the side for Benrey to do the same, but they just stared back at him for a long moment. Finally, with a huff, he pulled his Pokéballs of his belt and handed them to the nurse as well. 

Carefully placing them back on his belt a few moments later Benrey jerked his head toward the door, “Come on.” 

Gordon was pretty sure he shouldn’t be following a complete stranger outside a Pokémon center to wherever Benrey was actually planning on taking him, but here he was, following after the guy like a fool. He didn’t walk far from the Pokémon center though, just to a little nearby park, and they were still around other groups of people. So Gordon wasn’t really concerned about being mugged anymore, but Benrey’s silence was growing to be a little uncomfortable again. 

Benrey sat down on one of the benches with a huff, and Gordon curiously followed in suit, fiddling with the edge of his shirt while Benrey took his time to figure out whatever he was going to say. 

"You- uh, you got PS plus?” He finally asked, and Gordon couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter at that. 

“So," Gordon wheezed over another bout of giggling, "You asked me to follow you or whatever, so you could ask about PS plus?” 

Benrey scowled, sinking further down on the bench, “Uh, yeah, totally. Not- shouldn’t laugh about it bro, shit’s real expensive. You got it?” 

Gordon shook his head, a grin still curled over his features, “No I don’t I ah, I don’t really play many video games, I guess. I mean I’d want to but,” he gestured vaguely to his prosthetic with his good hand, “Slows down my response time and all that.” 

Gnawing on his lip absently, Benrey’s gaze darted away, “So uh, how- uh, lost your hand? Little- little clumsy guy going and got it caught in the car door or something? Didn’t… You weren’t... You weren’t very cool with my epic Pokémon man, what’s up with that. Swear that all my Pokémon are nice; ain’t gonna’ be mean.” 

His smile fell away at that, “I ah… A lycanroc, like yours, not shiny or anything but uhm, yeah, one attacked me. Ended up losing my arm and everything from it.” 

“Stong’s nice though,” Benrey said softly, “She ain’t gonna be mean to you. Good- she’s a good.” 

“I’m not saying she’s not,” Gordon quickly reaffirmed shifting in place slightly to accommodate Joshua who’d quickly decided he was going to get onto his shoulders, “I’d just… If you can, could you keep her in her Pokéball? At least for now, I’m- I’ll probably get used to her after a while, wouldn’t be fair of me to tell you to keep her in her Pokéball all the time around me but… For now?” 

Benrey was quiet for a long moment, but finally he nodded, quickly tapping the side of his knee as he did so, “Yeah I can do that. But uh, you saying _for now_ like… You’re gonna help my bud Tommy out?” 

Gordon let out a soft laugh, “I- I guess so. It’s not like I have much else to do really. I’ll have to pass the gym onto somebody else while I’m gone and let everybody know what’s going to be happening…" 

Abruptly, Gordon leapt to his feet making Joshua let out a surprised bark from where he’d situated himself atop his shoulders, “I’ve gotta tell my- uhm, I’ve gotta go now!” He said quickly, “I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow yeah?” 

Benrey who looked rightfully dazed nodded, “Uh, yeah, guess so.” 

“Alright, I’ll see you then!” 

Making sure Joshua was secure, Gordon jogged from the park back to their house to apparently tell everybody he’d be setting out sometime soon to resume his field studies. The thought hit him like a ton of bricks, but he couldn’t afford to break his stride, if anything, he sped up at the idea. Because he _had_ missed his research work. And he might finally be getting to actually do something instead of just talking to other haughty researchers about his theories. Even better, he might be _right_. 

His grin growing wider, Gordon increased his pace toward his house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES benrey's pokemon are all gonna be named after the things he said ore referenced in official hlvrai. Gordon's pokemon ar all nicknamed too but. i decided most of em on a whim aside from Joshua. but!! shiny midnight lycanroc named Stong! she iz a silly and i lov her!  
> aneywayz!! will get more ov the old men + darnold next chapter! idk what its actually gon consist ov but! more plot on tha way lol!


	3. gordon has a good family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me putting of my other fanfic off for a while to write tghis once :)  
> aneywayz! funz! another chapter fo y'all!

As soon as Gordon threw open the door, a bolt of electricity arced toward his head that he ducked down just in time to avoid. Gordon grimaced at the scorch marks it left along the walls, but he was plenty used to covering those up with a few coats of paint by now. 

“What’s the rule about battling in the house?” He shouted over the cacophony of shouting coming from the living room. Inching forward but still sticking close to the ground in case of another stray thunderbolt, Gordon peered into where Bubby and Dr. Coomer had decided to battle. And of course, most everything was broken or charred from their antics. Luckily, the couch and TV seemed to have been spared this time, but the coffee table and rug were not so lucky. 

Dr. Coomer’s breloom was perched upon the remains of what had once been the coffee table and Bubby’s eelektross had charred a good portion of the carpet around himself; neither looked guilty at all despite them knowing the rules as well. 

Glancing over to him, Dr. Coomer grinned brightly, “Hello Gordon! I had forgotten all about your rule in the heat of the battle!” 

Bubby frowned, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff, an action which his eelektross copied almost comically, “It’s also kind of a shit rule.” 

Gordon groaned, lifting Joshua off his shoulders and tucking him away back into his Pokéball, much to the little riolu's dismay, “Okay, didn’t you say there were some kids coming over for a lesson on something or other? And for the record, you guys started this, I’m not paying for destruction costs time.” 

“They did come Gordon! And they left after I beat them brutally in a battle! Bubby just proposed soon after that he could beat me so I couldn’t not take him up on it!” 

Gordon just shook his head, “Fine, whatever, it’s not my problem. But uh, did you know it was Tommy _Coolatta_ , that was calling from my gym?” He asked, quickly changing the subject, “Because he was there asking about my old research work.” 

“Of course I knew Gordon!” Dr. Coomer said, taking a Pokéball from his pocket and putting his breloom back inside, “Tommy is an old friend of mine after all! Who else would have I been referencing?” 

As Bubby put his eelektross away, he flicked a sharp and questioning gaze to him, “And what’d he want with it?” 

Gordon let out a happy chuckle as he moved toward the wreckage that was the broken table, “You remember my paper on mew? Back before I lost my hand and whatnot? He says I might be right in my speculation that it might be there. He uh, he wants me to come with him and some other guy to check the place out.” 

“Gordon that’s great news!” Dr. Coomer chirped, dropping the broken half of the table he’d been carrying in favor of swooping Gordon up into a hug, “You are going to go with them, right?” 

Nodding, Gordon waited till he was set back onto the ground to expand, “Yeah, I’ll be going. We’ll be meeting up at the gym tomorrow to leave probably. So we’ve got to hurry on the cleanup here so I can pack everything, I’m still kinda worried about how my arms going to fare with exploration but-” 

Bubby held up one hand to stop him, “We can clean up down here; go pack the whatever’s that you’ll need.” 

Gordon grinned, “Thanks man,” patting Bubby on the shoulder, he headed head up the stairs to his room. Scouring his closet for his old travel backpack, he loaded it with a weeks’ worth of clothes, the little journal he used to jot down notes in and a few bathroom supplies. He didn’t know if they were going to actually have the time to brush their teeth and things, but it was better to have it just in case. He’d put his prosthetic charger in there later because it still needed to charge overnight. 

He didn’t really know how he’d get it charged out in the field though. He didn’t have any electric type Pokémon himself, and he was pretty sure Benrey didn’t either. His zangoose, Angel _did_ know thunderbolt, but he wouldn’t put it up to her to have the fine-tuned abilities to use the move more carefully like a natural electric type would. 

Gordon knew Tommy had a heliolisk named Pepsi from seeing it in battles before, but he felt like it’d be a nuisance to ask him to take the Pokémon out to charge his prosthetic. He was only being brought along to help guide them to the area after all. 

Shaking off his sudden burst of downtrodden-ness, Gordon zipped up the rest of his backpack. He was still getting to go and that was a gift all in its own. If the opportunity hadn’t been presented to him, he probably wouldn’t have gotten back to researching at all. Or if he had it would have been years down the road. This was going to be good for him. 

The sudden knock at his door jerked his attention away from his contemplative thoughts. Glancing back, he spotted Darnold leaning on his open doorway, a wide smile wrapped over his features, “I hear you got an invitation to exploring?” 

“More or less,” Gordon responded, checking his backpack once more before standing and looking back to his friend, “The Champion came to my gym and asked me to go look for mew with him and another guy.” 

Darnold grinned at him, “That’s- that’s really great! You’ve really been moaning and groaning about that sorta’ thing for a while now so I’m glad you’re finally getting to go back out and do that. Plus,” he added with a taunting but still friendly smile, “It means I won’t be having to do both the professors work for them once you get back.” 

Gordon scowled good naturedly, “I think just for that I might go and loose an ankle on purpose. Can’t have you going and getting your claim to fame before me.” 

“Oh, I’m well on my way to that,” Darnold laughed, “When you get back I’m going to have figured out how to turn poison into potions and it’s gonna’ be all over the news!” 

“Then I’ll just have to find mew faster than you can synthesize some poison then wont I?” 

“I don’t think you’re going to find the ancestor of all Pokémon your first time popping back into the field,” Darnold said honestly, “But I’ll hold you to that. Who was the other guy you mentioned?” 

“Somebody by the name of Benrey? The Champion said he had some information on where mew was supposed to be as well, didn’t seem like much of the researcher type but,” Gordon shrugged, “Who knows. He uhm, he did have a midnight lycanroc though.” 

Darnold grimaced, a flash of sympathy washing over his features, “Didn’t go well?” 

Gordon laughed, sitting down on the edge of his bed and waving Darnold on in, “You could say that! I uh, we battled at my gym and as soon as he sent her out I kinda’ panicked. Had to leave for a minute before going back in.” 

Sitting down next to him, Darnold glanced warily over to him, “Was- did everything turn out alright?” 

Nodding, Gordon tried to focus on the sensation of his thumb tapping against his knuckle instead of the quiet burst of fear at the back of his mind, “Yeah, yeah, it was alright. The dude put his Pokémon away and we talked it out a little after. He’s gonna… I asked if he could keep her in her Pokéball for the most part if I’m around, just at least till I get used to her, you know? But he uh, he seemed like an okay guy I guess.” 

“I don’t want to be the one who has to say this because I really am excited for you, a hundred percent! But you uh… If just the sight of their Pokémon brings that all back up-” 

Gordon quickly shook his head, “I’ll be fine, I promise. It’ll probably take some getting used to on my part, but it’ll be okay. I can’t go my whole life just being afraid of lycanroc anyway, it’s… A good opportunity for me in both aspects.” 

“Only if you’re sure,” he said hesitantly, “I’m not doubting your judgement, but don’t go forcing yourself into it just because you think you have to.” 

Gordon shifted to the side, grabbing both his friend’s hands in his own forcing him to look him in the eye, “I’m going to be fine Darnold. I can handle this, and if there is a time when I can’t _myself_ , I’ll have my team with me, not to mention the Champion.” 

Darnold nodded, more to himself than to Gordon. Squeezing Gordon’s hands in his own, Darnold’s mouth twitched to a slight upturned line, “Yeah, I know. I just worry.” 

Pulling his friend into a quick side hug, Gordon patted his back, “I’ll be fine,” he repeated. After a second, he pulled away and rose to his feet, “You wanna’ help me fix up the plants Joshua tore up earlier?” 

Perking up slightly, Darnold nodded again, “Yeah, sure! I can just…” fumbling with his belt loop for a second he pulled a Pokéball off it, letting his sunflora inside loose with a needlessly dramatic flourish, “She can help us get done faster.” 

Gordon smiled, “Then let’s get this going!” 

It didn’t take too long to patch up the berry bushes; like Darnold had said, Joshua hadn’t torn them up too bad, so they’d probably be fine after a week or so. But they’d sat and talked on the back porch for a while after bouncing from topic to topic mostly. Darnold had a meeting with an important team of some important medical scientists coming up in a few days that he was worried about. It was only to pitch his idea of Pokémon poison being altered to make different kinds or strengths of potions, which Gordon already had a feeling was going to be approved once the board heard about it. Darnold was still nervous nonetheless even after Gordons multiple assurances that it was going to be fine, but slowly the conversation drifted back to his trip. 

“How far away is the forest that you’re going to be headed for?” 

“At least two days’ worth. By car at least, method of travel wasn’t really specified. I don’t think I’ll be gone too terribly long either but who knows. A lot of the deeper parts in the forest is untraveled by people.” 

“How come?” 

Gordon made an uncertain sound, resting his chin in his palm, “Pokémon get stronger and meaner as you go deeper in; plus, the foliage gets really dense, can’t even see anything from overhead views.” 

Darnold shook his head, “I can’t imagine wanting to go into someplace like that. Nobody knows what could be out there and I _really_ don’t have the stomach for danger like that.” 

“Oh, but you have the stomach for jumping head-first into an arboks den, do you?” 

Huffing, Darnold crossed his arms over his chest, “It’s not dangerous as long as you know what you’re _doing_. Not that you’d know Mr. ‘I’m not afraid of getting lost in a forest and never heard from again’ Freeman.” 

Gordon laughed, “I’m not going to get _lost_ , but for your sake of mind I’ll leave a little breadcrumb trail just in case-” 

Darnold shoved his shoulder sending him into another fit of laughter, “Alright, alright; seriously though, I doubt we’re going to get lost. If mew is really there, I doubt they’d let three people wander around forever in their forest.” 

“And if mew’s _not_ there, what then?” 

Gordon shrugged, “Then we find our way back out. If worst comes to worst, you guys will know where I’m at and can send out a search party. Plus, Tommy has two flying types, he could send them out to find people to lead people back to where we would be waiting." 

“I don’t really like those odds. What if both of his Pokémon-” 

The back door propped open behind them, “Are you both coming inside for dinner or what?” Bubby asked, nudging his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. 

“Course’ we are,” Gordon said quickly, glancing around to confirm that it was indeed around that time before getting to his feet. As Bubby retreated back inside with a whisk of his lab-coat, Gordon glanced back to Darnold, “Don’t worry so much about it man, a lot of places in the world are unexplored. Like, think about the ocean!” 

Darnold just shook his head, “ _Please_ don’t start about the ocean today, I don’t think I can handle Dr. Coomer getting existential about it again.” 

Gordon let out a false sigh of misery as he opened the door to head back inside, “But I _really_ wanted to bring that topic back to the dinner table…” 

“What topic Gordon?” Dr. Coomer called from the direction of the kitchen. 

“Nothing!” he and Darnold both responded near immediately. 

Luckily, dinner went over smoothly aside from the usual case of Bubby’s magmortar setting something on fire, but everyone was well equipped to deal with the fallout of it at this point. As Gordon was drying off his hands from cleaning everyone’s dishes, he spotted Darnold hesitating in the doorway of the kitchen, his nervous eyes on the tile flooring. 

“Heading home for the night?” 

Darnold glanced back to him, hesitating a moment before entering the kitchen fully, “Yeah, I won’t… I don’t think I’ll be able to see you off tomorrow, so I wanted to say good luck before you left.” 

“We’ll probably need it,” Gordon snorted, turning to fully face him, “Not expecting much, but I’ve got my hopes-” 

Gordon blinked in surprise as his friend wrapped him in a hug, swiftly returning it after he got over his initial shock. It was just a brief thing, but Gordon could feel how tense Darnold was. 

“I uhm- stay safe Gordon, alright?” 

Clasping one hand onto his friends shoulder Gordon nodded, trying his hardest to convey how serious he was, “I promise I will be. No jumping into things I don’t need to.” 

Darnold huffed, drawing back with a slightly lighter expression, “You’d better. Good luck though, I’ll see you when you get back.” 

“See you then!” 

Offering him a thumbs up, Darnold trotted out the front door leaving Gordon staring at the closed entryway behind him. 

He would be fine. There was no reason for him to be nervous. He was going with the Champion of the region after all! Pushing his anxieties to the back of his head, Gordon said his goodnights to the Coomer’s and trotted back upstairs so he could get to bed and have tomorrow come already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i jus think gordon deserves a loving n supportive family... alsoz. GORDON FREEMAN AND DARNOLD PEPPER FRIENDSHIP GIVES ME!!!! LIFE!!!! so of course i had to put it in here >:)


	4. talkin.. soaring.. thinkin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took a little longer writing this chapter cuz i rlly rlly wanted to get it to how i liked it and!! i like it rn so!! here it iz!

To say Gordon was nervous was an understatement. He was practically vibrating with apprehensive energy at this point, and as the minutes wore on, his worries only increased. Both the Coomer’s had been supportive enough, wishing him luck as he left. Neither had seemed particularly worried about his trip, but then again, they weren’t really the kind to worry about much anyway. He wouldn’t put it past them for encouraging him to leave the house just so they could wreck it in his absence. But they both trusted him to be able to get himself out of a dangerous situation if he found himself in one. And Gordon did too, but… Just to a lesser extent. 

Because maybe Darnold had been right, getting lost in the forest wasn’t exactly an optimal way to go, and he didn’t know either of the two he’d be going with super well either. Or maybe it’d been a setup from the beginning and they’d just showed at his gym to get his hopes up because it was _painfully_ obvious at this point that he wasn’t suited for this kind of thing anymore- 

Gordon glanced up to see Tommy trotting across the square toward where he was positioned by the outside of his gym, “Hey Mr. Freeman! Judging by your uhm, by your backpack you’re going to be coming with?” 

Gordon nodded, forcing a smile onto his features. He could see Benrey walking stiffly after him, shoulders hunched forward slightly, his sharp gaze flickering skywards every few moments. 

Yeah, I figured why not, you know?” Gordon shifted his backpack over his shoulders slightly, “I also packed a bunch of my own stuff since I wasn’t really sure what I’d need for the trip?” 

“Oh! Well we’ll bring most of the uhm- we have all the exploration gear that we’ll be needing,” Tommy said, gesturing to the large bags on his and Benrey’s backs, “So as long as you just brought some extra clothes you should be fine!” 

Gordon nodded, his slight uneasiness returning at Benrey’s presence at Tommy’s side, “So uh, should we call a taxi or something? The drive’s pretty long so I figured we’d probably want to get there as early as we could.” 

Tommy just shook his head, still grinning, “It’s alright, I’ve gotta’ friend coming by to pick us up! He should be here in just a minute or so I think.” 

Arching one eyebrow, Gordon gave the Champion a half smile, “Did you call him without knowing whether I’d be coming?” 

Tommy glanced off to the side a little sheepishly, “Well… Benrey told me you’d probably be coming along after they got back, so I called ahead. Saving time and all.” 

Benrey, who’d had their half-lidded stare on Gordon ever since he walked over, grinned at him, “Yeah, you uh, left me on the bench all rude like. Making a habit of it bro, all up and walking away with no explanation. Sounds like- like criminal behavior. S’ text-book bad guy, standing up your friends. Right Tommy?” 

For the Champion’s part, he looked like he hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation at hand, but wanted no part of it anyway, “Uhm, I uh… Mr. Freeman doesn’t seem to be bad yet at least! I think you’ve gotta give him a chance.” 

Gordon, unfortunately starting to get used to Benrey’s strange brand of rambling, half-insults, exhaled though his nose, “Well I’m sorry for leaving you there, but I had to stop my house from being burnt down for the second time this month.” 

Benrey stepped forward, his grin growing sharper as he angled his head slightly downward, “Yeah? How’d you- how’d you know it was on fire huh? Freeman ain’t got no psychic sense, think you’re a liar, a uh- a Liarman. Evil again, this ain’t turning up too good for you bro.” 

As Gordon was about to fumble through an indignant response, the beating of wings above them stopped him. Glancing up, he spotted a group of four descending bird Pokémon, and looking closer, he noticed somebody was atop one of them. As the flock of what he recognized to be staraptor landed, the person dismounted from atop their Pokémon. Pulling his flight goggles off, revealing a scarred, strong face, the newcomer he shook out his hair and glanced quickly over their group, “This everybody?” 

Tommy nodded and looked to Gordon, “This is Forzen; he’s a Pokémon ranger! He’ll be taking us to the forest and helping us through.” 

Gordon glanced back to Forzen; being a ranger explained the one Pokéball on his belt then. He’d never personally encountered any Pokémon rangers himself, but he knew the principals of what they did well enough. Resolve Pokémon related issues; clear up nature trails; helping guide lost people. Vaguely he remembered something about capturing Pokémon with friendship as well. Forzen didn’t exactly seem to be the type to do any of those things. 

He tried not to cast his judgement too soon though, Gordon _did_ happen to know two Pokémon professors who didn’t exactly fit their stereotype either. Maybe all his various scars were from calming down various Pokémon in his exploits and _not_ from being some type of criminal! 

In fact, if Benrey should be looking at anybody to be actually calling them a criminal it should be this guy. But as Gordon glanced over to Benrey, he noticed him pointedly looking away from Forzen, his dark eyebrows pinched together, and his mouth flattened to a tight line. Looking back to Forzen, he seemed to be doing his best to avoid seeing Benrey as well. So, there was _obviously_ some unresolved tension there, promising at least a few tense group conversations in the near future. But for now, while they seemed to be ignoring each-other, it wasn’t Gordon’s problem. 

Forzen nodded to him, his dark gaze quickly glancing him over, “You Dr. Freeman?” 

Gordon nodded, “Yeah, it’s uh, it’s nice to meet you?” 

Forzen arched one eyebrow at him, the corner of his mouth twitching upward before he glanced back to Tommy, “Cool. We set to go then?” 

Tommy nodded, flashing them all a bright smile before padding toward one of the staraptor. Gordon glanced nervously over to the gathered group of bird Pokémon, shuffling forward quietly as if he were going to spook them into flying away. He knew they would follow whatever Forzen told them to do but he still felt nervous around the still very wild Pokémon. 

The one he was closest to snapped it’s head up from preening its muted grey feathers, its intense brick colored eyes staring him down as he froze. Finally, the bird ruffled its feathers and glanced away to one of its comrades. Letting out an internal sigh of relief he was about to proceed toward the Pokémon again when a hand fell down on his shoulder nearly making him jump out of his skin. Whirling around, Gordon found Benrey standing there, smirking at him with narrowed eyes. 

“Little baby-man afraid of a few birdies? Gonna’ cry? Cry like a little whiny brat baby?” 

Gordon scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest tightly, “What? No, I’m- no man, I don’t have to talk to you about this go get on your own fuckin’ bird.” 

Benrey’s grin only grew wider as he over-exaggeratedly backed away, holding his hands up in submission, “Sure bro, sure. Hop on that bird then? It’s just a staraptor, chill out.” 

Narrowing his eyes, Gordon huffed and turned back to the Pokémon in question who’d been watching their proceeding’s disinterestedly. Reassuring himself that the staraptor wasn’t just going to up and peck at his face or fly off as soon as he managed to get on, Gordon stiffly walked toward the Pokémon. 

Circling around the staraptor, the Pokémon leaned over slightly so he could scrabble atop it’s back. He had to sit so his knees were pressed behind where the joints of its wings met the Pokémon’s body, but it was slightly more comfortable than he’d been expecting. The staraptor glanced back at him up over its shoulder then looked to Forzen who’d already slid atop his staraptor and was in the middle of putting his goggles back on. 

Benrey, still smirking at him, waved from his position on his Pokémon, “Managed to get on?” 

Gordon blew out a sharp breath and glanced away from Benrey in favor of checking on Tommy who seemed to be secure as well. Before Gordon was able to ask if they were going to take off, Forzen let out a sharp whistle that had all the staraptor looking attentively in his direction. 

Suddenly, the Pokémon ran forward, flapping its wings hard a few times before making it into the air. Holding onto the base of the bird Pokémon’s neck, Gordon squeezed his eyes closed till he was positive that they were high enough in the air to not immediately come crashing down again. Gazing around, Gordon glanced down the dizzying distance to the ground. If he squinted, he could make out the Coomer’s main lab from a ways away, but his town was rapidly fading into the distance. 

Turning back around to glare through the rushing air, he watched as their staraptor all maneuvered into a lopsided ‘V’ formation, not quite able to achieve it with only four people. Forzen was in the lead with Benrey and Gordon in the secondary positions and Tommy in the back. 

As if Benrey had noticed it at the same time, he lifted one hand to wave at him. And despite him already knowing that waving back would only serve to egg him on, Gordon did so anyway. Benrey opened his mouth to shout something at him, but whatever it’d been, it was lost over the wind. 

Looking ahead again, Gordon tried to guess how long it’d be till they arrived. Two hours by car didn’t translate well to flying, and with no visible air traffic, he assumed it probably wouldn’t take them long. Maybe a half an hour at the most. 

Absently he ran his hand over the back of his staraptor’s feathered neck as he imagined the forest they’d be heading toward. Since the forest got harder to traverse the deeper in you went, not much was known about it. The closest town was still quite a few miles away from it, leaving the forest pretty secluded. And in its isolation, it allowed for rarer, forest dwelling species of Pokémon to thrive. Aside from the most obvious rumors of mew residing somewhere deep in the heart of the forest, there were accounts of urban Pokémon, fossil Pokémon, and even _legendaries_. Just the idea of encountering a legendary Pokémon sent a bolt of excitement through him. Their goal was mew though, so he was going to keep his sights set on that for now. 

He still didn’t know how long it’d take them to get through the forest though. The first day or so would probably consist of walking through the more traversed parts of the forest so he wasn’t too worried about the near future. But as the vegetation got thicker the deeper, they went it, there was really no telling how long it’d take them. Especially with the prospect of more hostile Pokémon waiting for them the deeper they went in. 

Gordon was pretty confident in his own skills to take care of himself in battle and Tommy definitely could, but Gordon still didn’t fully know Benrey’s or Forzen’s abilities. With Forzen being a Pokémon ranger, he was probably better off, soothing angry Pokémon was his whole job after all, but he still did only have one Pokémon of his own. And Benrey… Gordon glanced over to the guy in question, avidly glancing down at the ground whisking by below them. 

He didn’t know how well Benrey would fare. He’d only used four of his Pokémon and he’d managed to take their team out with a relative ease. Sure, they could have been going easy on him because it was supposed to be a practice battle, but still, it was all he’d seen from them, so he was allowed to worry. If it really came down to it, Gordon could jump in to help them out. 

In an attempt to shake off his mounting worries, Gordon focused back in on the next few days ahead of them. They could probably make it a good way into the forest with the time left in the day and set up camp later on. And since they probably wouldn’t be facing too strenuous of battles this early on, he could probably let Joshua out to walk around with them. A slight grin crept onto his features at the idea of the little riolu getting wide-eyed at the whole expanse of trees for him to explore. 

It didn’t feel like very long till their staraptor were swooping lower toward the mass of green that he could just barely pick out was a forest at this altitude. Eventually though, as they made their descent, Gordon was able to pick out more distinct features, little clearings in the trees, small meadows with tiny figures that he assumed were Pokémon padding through them. 

Finally, his staraptor touched back to the ground, and Gordon hastily slid off it’s back, nearly falling on his ass as he did so. Wobbling, he leaned from foot to foot, trying to get feeling back into his prickly legs. From the edge of his vision, he saw all the staraptor take flight again as soon as everyone had dismounted, flapping back into the sky and disappearing over the trees. 

As Gordon reached for Joshua’s Pokéball, still linked to his belt, he watched Tommy trot forward in the direction of the forest, pausing at the edge of the tree-line to glance back at the rest of them, “We can’t just sit and wait around all day like a group of slowpoke! There’s- we’ve still gotta see if mew’s here!” 

Of course they wouldn’t be discussing a plan of action to take before going in, why had he assumed that they would? It’s not like it would have helped though, they were just trying to get to the center of the forest. Just pick a direction and walk in it. 

Gordon watched Forzen and Benrey join the Champion by the edge of the foliage, and with a sigh, he followed them on into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GURAHHHHJJH FORZEN POKEMON RANGER *me going ABSOLUTELY insane* my brain is SO wrinkly for thinking that up like... styler shaped like a beyblade... big buff man in shorts... he iz mean looking but carries berries in his pockets..... what more could u want! >:)  
> also! i feel like this chapter has a lotta blocks o text in it? and im REALLY sorry for it because i knoe thaz hard to read thru sometimes, but I love love LOVE writing introspection so... this iz fo ME baybe! putin them silly little thought paragraphs down gets my brain flowing!


	5. imagine if we were both bros and slept in the same tent..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowwie. me posting a chapter at a reasonable time of day? you cant believe it! sleep schedule still so So sucks. also. to the person i said that id be featuring forzens pokemon ranger styler this chapter... i am sorry for da lies... it will come up eventually, jus wanted to write less action-y stuff rn. ALSO sorry for the long ass chapter title lol. i think im SOO funnie...

With the amount of roots Gordon was already stumbling over this early in their expedition, it almost had him wishing he’d decided not to come. It felt like every other step he was managing to trip over some sort of plant or rock. Gordon knew they were still in the thinner parts of the forest, and that the traveling would only get more difficult as they progressed, but the thought only served to make him more irritated. He absolutely had _not_ missed this part of exploration. 

He saw Benrey barely holding in his laughter at him from the edge of his vision, and purposefully looked back to where he was placing his feet. He got a few successful steps ahead before managing to trip over yet _another_ goddamn root. 

Cursing loudly, Gordon pinwheeled his arms to keep himself from falling over completely and staggered back upright. Benrey, finally unable to hide it any longer, let out a loud cackle that was definitely movie villain worthy. Joshua, a little distance away perked up at the sound and quickly trotted back over to their group. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Gordon barked a little too loudly, his face heating up as he pulled his foot from underneath the thick root, “This shit’s hard to walk through!” 

“Gordon clumsyman need some assistance? Need some help from a pal?” 

Grinding his teeth together, Gordon stalked forward, ignoring Benrey as he continued to ramble about how he couldn’t even walk among other horseshit he was intent on spewing. It didn’t take long for him to get sick of it though, his power of ignoring only going so far. 

Whirling around to jab a finger into Benrey’s chest, Gordon leaned in close to the other man narrowing his eyes at him, “You’re going to cut your shit out _right_ now, because I swear, if I hear one more _fucking_ comment come from you, I’m going to fucking lose it.” 

Benrey, seemingly unphased, batted his hand away with a scoff, “Jeez, no need to be rude about it. Was just offering to help a bud out, don’t gotta be a fuckin’… Child,” Benrey averted his eyes, suddenly very interested in staring at the space just above Gordon’s right shoulder, “Yelling at me and shit. Hurts my feeling bro. Ain’t very epic of you.” 

Just barely holding back a snarl of a response, Gordon exhaled sharply though his nose. Pivoting on the spot, Gordon stalked away, hunching his shoulders up closer to his ears as he did so. Joshua, who’d been watching the whole proceedings nervously, whined softly, padding along just a few steps behind Gordon. Sighing, he took out the riolu’s Pokéball and put him back in, trading Joshua out for his chesnaught Xavier. At least now if he stumbled again his Pokémon could be there to help him back up quickly. 

It took a minute for Gordon to realize it, but Benrey had quit his idle chatter with him in favor of trudging along behind him in silence. Leaving Gordon to realize the atmosphere of their group had grown significantly thicker with tension. Tommy and Forzen had resumed their conversation, walking side-by-side ahead of Gordon. But he could see the glances the Champion was sending him from time to time; a little, worried expression, Tommy’s mouth twitching uncharacteristically downwards. Which served to make him feel a little guilty, because, okay, _maybe_ his reaction had been a little over the top. Benrey… He had just said that he was trying to help. Even if the question had been laced in with a few mocking words. 

Throwing a fleeting look over his shoulder, he felt his heart sink slightly at Benrey’s downturned gaze and shuffling steps. Their gengar, now out of its Pokéball and floating by their side, was glaring at him accusingly, so he hurriedly glanced back ahead. 

He hadn’t _really_ meant for his words to be hurtful; he just needed the guy off his back and not laughing at him every time he fell. He’d been stressed for various good reasons, but he still shouldn’t have yelled at Benrey for it. 

Regret swirled through Gordon’s mind as he plowed on ahead. He… He would have to apologize to Benrey. Because what he’d said was pretty uncalled for and Gordon really didn’t want his irritation with himself to sour all of his and Benrey’s future interactions. Gordon had genuinely enjoyed talking to Benrey before, even if he was a little nonsensical and seemingly intent on pinning him as some sort of criminal. They were still a funny guy, and he’d enjoyed their presence as of so far. It wasn’t fair of him to have just yelled at them like that. Plus, he’d be with this group people for a good while so it’d be best if they all could at least get along with each-other. 

It took a while for their group to finally come to a good stopping point for the day, especially with Gordon and Benrey both lagging behind, but they managed to get far enough in that it at least felt like they’d made a bit of progress. Their temporary camp was at the edge of a lazily moving river. They’d have to cross it the next morning but since they’d be going through it pretty early on in the day, their clothes shouldn’t be wet for too long. 

Forzen had left a few minutes back to scout around a ways downstream for nearby Pokémon, and Tommy had busied himself in cooking up some sort of stew for dinner, leaving Benrey and Gordon to set up the two tents. They were both pretty decently sized things, so they had to work on them one at a time. Luckily, Gordon had the know-how after setting up plenty of tents on his own expeditions in the past, and Benrey was capable enough, so they had them set up relatively quickly. 

As Benrey ducked inside the tent closest to him, presumably to set up the sleeping bag that Tommy had set out for him, Gordon picked up his own and followed him on inside. It wasn’t too cramped to where they’d be kicking each-other throughout the night, but it wasn’t exactly huge either. Benrey glanced over at him nervously, his mouth flattened in a tight line. Averting his gaze quickly, he resumed unfurling his sleeping bag, his back still to Gordon. Cautiously, he decided to do the same, occasionally peeking out of the corner of his eye at Benrey to gauge when best to start up a conversation would be. 

As Benrey set to unpacking a few things from his backpack, still looking pointedly away from Gordon, he finally decided he couldn’t keep putting the conversation, that still plainly needed to be had, off to the side. 

“Hey... I uh, I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. I didn’t… I’ve been really worried about this whole adventure thing and I just snapped at you so I’m… I’m sorry for that. It- it doesn’t really make what I said okay, like, at all; it was still a really shitty thing for me to have said, but I uh… I know you were just offering your help so I shouldn’t have been so snappy about it.” 

Benrey, who’d kept his gaze glued to the floor of the tent the whole while Gordon had been talking, finally glanced back over to him. He was still for a painfully long moment and Gordon almost figured he was just going to go back to unloading his bag, but eventually he let out a huff. 

“Yeah you uhm… Wasn’t very cool of you but uh, probably should have stopped. Saw you were all stressed or whatever n’ I kept going. So uh, bad on both our parts I guess.” 

Gordon’s shoulders sagged with relief, “I guess so. But uh, it’s fine if you go back to doing your… Whatever thing you do. Poking fun and everything. Just so long as you’re straightforward about when you’re actually trying to help with things. I… Yeah.” Gordon shifted uncomfortably, trying not to pull at the loose string on the edge of his sleeping bag. 

Blinking at him strangely for a moment, Benrey quickly looked away from him to face the wall of the tent, “Alright that uh, yeah, sure bro. Pretty uh, gay of you though,” he said, finally going back to fiddling with his bag and smacking his lips obnoxiously, “Just asking me to bully you? Yeah uh, want to tell the class you got a little crush?” 

Gordon snorted, finally letting out a laugh, feeling it was freeing the last of his anxieties, “I’m not asking- whatever you say man. Tommy’s out there making stew still, I’m going to go see how that’s going.” 

Benrey quickly waved him off, turning back to his backpack with a slight grin pulling at his lips, “Yeah. Sure. Gonna just… Get stuff fixed up in here. Go grind that Exp.” 

With a nod and a small smile, Gordon exited the tent, padding over to where Tommy was, positioned in front of the two tents. The Champion offered him a knowing look and Gordon quickly realized that a few feet of space and thin tent walls definitely had not stopped Tommy from being able to hear what’d been said. 

Ducking his head in embarrassment, Gordon turned his attention to the vegetable stew Tommy was currently stirring, “So uh, how’s that going?” 

Tommy shook his head slightly, glancing down to the contents of the pot, “It’ll be ready in a bit. I came out here with a few ingredients already, but it was- it was kind of fun to search around and find different things I could put in it.” 

Easing himself down onto his haunches, Gordon watched the flickering flames for a moment, “So you know about like… What plants are safe to eat and all that?” 

Nodding, Tommy took the wooden spoon out he’d been using to stir and fumbled around with a few of the thing’s he’d set out beside him, “Of course! I wouldn’t just use any ingredients willy-nilly; who do you think I am Mr. Freeman?” Tommy paused, to drop a few leaf shavings into the pot before continuing, “But uhm, yeah. I really like cooking it uh, it helps pass the time.” 

Gordon hummed softly in response, leaning back so he could watch his chesnaught and Benrey’s gengar as they explored the area around their campsite. His gengar was no longer sending him death-glares so he assumed that was a good thing. But it also could have just been because it was currently entranced by the little group of combee that were buzzing by. He was pretty sure Benrey had said the Pokémon's name was Jefferem, but also just could have been another ploy to fuck with him. Because nobody reasonable would name their Pokémon that, right? Then again, Benrey also didn’t seem to be the most reasonable person around either. Actually... Yeah, from what Gordon knew of the guy so far, naming his Pokémon something that absurd definitely tracked. 

As if having summoned it’s attention by his thoughts, the gengar turned slightly to glance at him. Trying to ignore the shiver of fear he felt at the Pokémon’s stare, Gordon didn’t let his gaze drop away, keeping his eyes locked with the ghostly Pokémon's. Finally, the gengar blinked, its eternal grin growing wider before it turned away to continue bouncing around the campsite. 

Letting out a silent breath, Gordon turned back to their tent’s as Benrey shuffled out, his lidded gaze flicking to him and Tommy for a moment before he came to sit down next to him. It was just Benrey and Gordon sitting, watching while Tommy made a few adjustments to the stew with a few vague background noises downstream that was probably Forzen splashing somewhere in the water. It was… Nice. 

Peaceful in a way Gordon hadn’t felt in a while. His household was usually always in some state of disarray; whether it be both the professor’s too wild battles, someone’s Pokémon wreaking havoc in a room they definitely should not have been let in, Darnold’s poisons or potions staining and or burning through something, or his wild dashing around the house to at least _try_ and keep the peace. So the change of pace to just be relaxing in the company of other people was good. 

Eventually though, just as the sun was beginning to go down, drenching the sky that they could see a vivid orange, and Tommy was dishing out bowls of stew and spoons for everyone, Forzen came tromping back through the underbrush at the far side of the camp, an empoleon at his side. For as much splashing as he’d been doing, the guy was surprisingly dry, only seeming wet about up to his calves. His empoleon didn’t look like it’d even stepped foot in the water, but Gordon chalked it up to waterproof feathers. 

Dropping down next to Tommy and taking his bowl with a quiet murmur of thanks, Forzen gestured to the river, “Not any uh… No good crossing points nearby. Gonna’ have to swim tomorrow. It’s not too deep but, yeah, be prepared for wet clothes.” 

Gordon was already grimacing at the idea of the texture of wet jeans against his skin, but as soon as he took a sip off the stew that Tommy had made, all of his qualms vanished for a moment. 

“Holy shit!” gesturing to Tommy with a wide grin Gordon patted at his thigh with his free hand in his excitement, “This is really fucking good! Thank you man!” 

Flushing at his words, Tommy waved him off, “It’s- it’s nothing Mr. Freeman. I’m glad you like it though!” 

They filled the rest of the evening with idle chatter, conversation flowing easily for the most part. Gordon could tell Forzen and Benrey still had a few things they needed to talk out with each-other, not that he had any idea what it could be, but they were civil enough. Gordon was in the middle of rinsing out everyone’s’ dishes in the darkening water of the river when he heard somebody approaching from behind him. Glancing up over his shoulder, he spotted Benrey padding softly over the grass. 

“Sup Freeman, you uh… Cleaning shit?” 

Gordon nodded, turning his attention back to their dishes, “Yeah, didn’t really… Do much to help with dinner stuff so figured I could at least do this.” 

Quietly, Benrey sat down next to him, leaning over slightly to grab some of the dirty dishes as well. 

“You don’t gotta help out with this man, I was nearly done anyway,” he said as he nudged a few of the dishes that were left in Benrey’s direction. 

They shrugged, dunking the bowl in their hands into the water, “Gonna… Help out. Like you said. Don’t wanna just chill in the tent by myself bro.” 

Gordon nodded, “Fair enough I guess,” He paused to set the pot he’d been cleaning back behind him before grabbing a few spoons, “I’m uh… Thanks again for keeping your lycanroc out at a minimum for now. I still kinda feel bad about it all because it’s not her fault but… You know. Stuff sucks.” 

Benrey nodded, “S’ no problem, was actually gonna’ uh… Ask about that though.” 

Gordon stiffened on instinct, but nodded anyway, forcing his gaze to stay on the pot in his hands. 

“Nothing major or anything,” Benrey said quickly, “Just gonna… Give you forewarning, I guess. Was gonna take her out tomorrow. If that’s okay.” 

Their voice was as emotionless as ever, but Gordon could tell he was actually trying to be considerate here, “Yeah, that’d uh, that’d be fine. Just, let me know when you’re going to do that I guess?” 

“Yeah, I will,” Benrey mumbled, putting the final bowl on his side back behind him with the rest of the clean dishes, “I’m gonna’… I’m going to go to bed now.” 

“Night then.” 

Benrey watched him for a long second, their gaze betraying a hit of anxiety just before they turned away, padding back to their tent, “Night.” 

Curiously, Gordon watched him go till he vanished into the flaps of their tent. He would have liked to have been able to say he had a good read on Benrey after having been around him for two days now, but the guy was turning out to be a real enigma. He seemed to like pressing his buttons, even if he took it a little too far, but he was so distant compared to everyone else, it had Gordon wondering how he’d come to know the other two. 

When Gordon had first asked how Benrey had met Tommy, he’d quickly interrupted him and brushed what Gordon had been saying back in favor of saying nonsense. And with his unease around Forzen, plus the no explanation as to why, Gordon couldn’t help but get the feeling that the two scenarios were connected. Really, it wasn’t any of his business and he probably shouldn’t care so much, but he couldn’t help the nagging sensation in the back of his head that it was important information to catalogue away. 

For now though, Gordon gathered up all the newly cleaned dishes and packed them away in the bag so they could use them at breakfast tomorrow. Placing the bag just outside Tommy and Forzen’s tent, Gordon ducked back into the other one. Benrey already looked to be asleep, tucked up into their sleeping bag with their back to him, so Gordon quickly dragged himself into his own. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it’d work for the time he was out here. Using his arm as a headrest, Gordon faced the wall of the tent as he closed his eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWA GWA hello! i am very tired rn but! hi! i feel like this chapter iz kinda short actually despite it bein relatively the same number o pages as the rest o my chapters? idk. maybe its cuz i reviewed dis one so many times in my brain it all jus blends together... dunno. this is jus supposed to be a cushiony chapter doe! maybe actual plot next time? I do not know!  
> tbh idk what da point o dis chapter iz but like... m actually p happy with it so like *holding it out to y'all* here ya go i guess lol


	6. water turning the trainers gay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAGRIAHGHHARHAGHRGH SORRY FOR BEIN GONE FO SO LONG, brain decided to dump tghat bad mental health down n throttle me w it lol. chapters might take a bit o time fo me to do fo a bit cuz o that but! we'll see! this one is a bit longer to make up for my lil absence doe!

Gordon woke to the sound of chirping outside their tent and the faint rustling of Benrey in the sleeping bag beside him. Squinting his eyes open to the light already filtering through the walls of the tent, Gordon rolled upright with a groan, pulling at his still tied up hair with his hand- 

Shit. His hand. Dropping his prosthetic back down so he could examine it, yeah, it was definitely low on battery. And just as he moved to start taking it off, the thing died on him. Letting out an exasperated huff, Gordon carefully removed the limb ignoring the soreness of his stump from having not removed the arm before he went to bed, and moved to tuck it back into his bag, only to jump at the sudden presence over his shoulder. 

It was just Benrey, watching him with that same emotionless stare, but it still made his heart race in his chest. He hadn’t heard him get up from his sleeping bag, but he very well could have been awake the whole time and Gordon just hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t really looked over to see if he was okay after realizing his whole hand had died on him. Gordon took a moment to look him over though in their close proximity. 

He wasn’t wearing his beanie anymore though, showing off a mane of mussed, unkempt looking black hair with a fringe partially covered his sharp, blue eyes. Letting out a silent breath though his nose, Gordon gently put his good hand on their chest, and pushed him away, “Dude, personal space.” 

Benrey leaned back, his eyes widening ever-so-slightly, “Uh, arm? No armed Gordon? Gonna’ walk around in the jungle with one hand? Become a uh… Forest pirate?” 

There it was. Gordon let out a laugh, “I mean, I guess so. There’s really no charging stations out here, I mean, Tommy’s heliolisk would _probably_ work to power it, but I don’t want to bug him, and the thing might just get fried-” 

Smacking his lips loudly to _rudely_ interrupt him, Benrey’s stare went back to normal, “Bro, it’s not gonna be a big deal. Tommy isn’t gonna’ care if you ask him to charge your hand up. He’s prolly’ gonna’ care though when you fall over onto your face and bust it on some fuckin’ jungle rock, without being able to catch yourself. Don’t make my bud feel bad bro, just ask him.” 

Gordon sighed, turning the prosthetic over in his grip, “I just- I don’t want to bother him. He’s the champion and everything and he only _invited_ me out here, I don’t want to ask too much-” 

Benrey darted forward, pressing their rough lips to the side of his face before quickly leaning back, their expression the same neutral as always, “Shut the fuck up. Just ask Tommy for help you idiot.” 

Gaping at them Gordon stiffened slightly, his face quickly warming up, “Did- did you just try and kiss me?” he asked incredulously. 

“Huh?” 

Of _course_ , it was just some joke to him. Pulling his shoulders back Gordon hastily looked away, shaking his head in frustration, “Fine, whatever man, I’m... Gonna’ go.” 

Turning toward the tent’s entrance, Gordon clambered out and stretched, trying to cool his heated face. They were probably just affectionate like that. He just had to get over himself and absolutely _not_ focus on what’d just happened in the tent. Keeping a careful grip on his prosthetic, he leaned backward, making his spine pop satisfyingly. 

Instead, Gordon surveyed the now gently lit forest. A few chatot perched in the branches on one of the overhanging trees watched him curiously for a few moments before going back to their singing. A ledyba was walking over the ground at the edge of their camp and Gordon spied the long tail of a skitty poking through one of the bushes. 

Forzen was crouched at the outskirts of the clearing, a few berries held in his palm, as he fed them to the small crowd of Pokémon around him. A pichu was scrabbling over the man’s shoulders and a group of teddiursa and marill were eagerly taking the berries from his cupped hand. A deerling was standing off to his side, leisurely munching on the grass below it, unbothered by the large man’s presence. 

The pichu on his back glanced up to see him and squeaked loudly, sending all the other Pokémon in its area including itself scurrying back into the brush. Glancing over his shoulder Forzen casted him a quick glare, “Yo... You sent all the Pokémon away.” 

Gordon held up his hands apologetically, realistically he knew Forzen wouldn’t do anything, but the sight of the scarred man rising to his full height still sent some sort of hesitation through him, “Sorry I was just uh, I was looking for Tommy?” 

Forzen exhaled sharply but jerked his head toward the river, “In the water with his Pokémon.” 

“Thanks,” trotting in the direction of the river, he quickly spotted Tommy floating on his back, his dewgong Ginger swimming lazy circles around him from beneath the water, the early morning light reflecting off the Pokémon’s silky white coat. Tommy waved at him, “Morning Mr. Freeman!” 

Gordon waved back, pausing a careful ways from the river’s edge just in case the Champions dewgong decided to splash him, “Morning! I was uh… I was actually wondering if you could help me out with something?” 

Paddling over, Tommy rested his elbows on the grassy lip of the river, staring up at him questioningly. Settling down across from him, Gordon cautiously placed his prosthetic on the ground between them and waved to it, “I don’t- I can’t really charge my hand out here on my own. I mean, my zangoose _does_ know an electric type move but I don’t… I don’t think she has the capability to be as careful with it and I uh, you have a heliolisk so I was wondering if you could bring him out so I could charge it? I don’t want to be like, a huge bother or anything but I also would uh…” Gordon trailed off in the middle of his sentence in favor of fixing the grass ahead of him with a stare. 

“Course’ I can do that Mr. Freeman! Pepsi would be happy to have the chance to come on out,” Tommy paused, looking back around for his dewgong still swimming in the water, “I uhm, you might have to wait a minute since I did just jump in here and electricity doesn’t really work too well with water, but yeah! It’s really no problem.” 

Gordon glanced back up at the Champion with a small grin, “Thank you man; I mean it.” 

Tommy waved him off, swimming a ways over to where he’d set his shirt and Pokéballs by the water’s edge. Sorting through his Pokéballs Tommy eventually withdrew one with a grin. Letting his heliolisk out, the Pokémon glanced around carefully before fixing Tommy with a stare, the ruffles around its neck fluffing up slightly. 

“Hey Pepsi,” Tommy said, crouching down in the midst of slipping his shirt back on, “Mr. Freeman here, he uhm, he needs your help alright? His arm needs to be charged or else it can’t work so we’ve gotta- you can charge it for him, right?” 

Pepsi looked to him, blinking once before padding forward. Gordon extended his prosthetic to the lizard Pokémon, and it took it delicately into it’s scaled hands. The Pokémon carefully turned it over, so its grip was more around the base of the prosthetic and took a few steps back. The frills around its neck rose as static arced over the lizards’ body. As the electricity built, so did the glow around the heliolisk’s head, forcing Gordon to look away from the brilliant gleam. 

Finally though, the glowing died down and Pepsi’s ruffles settled back down around it’s slender neck. Padding forward, the Pokémon held his prosthetic back to him. Its angular eyes gleamed with pride as Gordon slipped the limb back on, grinning as he wiggled his fingers experimentally. 

Patting the top of the Pokémon’s head, Gordon looked up to Tommy, “Thank you, it would have really sucked if I had to go though this one-handed,” turning his attention back to the heliolisk, “And thank _you_ for charging my hand, couldn’t’ve done it without you bud.” 

The Pokémon trilled contentedly, butting his hand with its head before returning to Tommy’s side. The Champion patted his Pokémon’s head with a small smile, “It was the least I could do Mr. Freeman, I did just come to your gym mostly unannounced and ask you to help me with this whole adventure.” 

Gordon shrugged, standing back upright, “It hasn’t been too strenuous or anything as of so far so I’m glad you invited me along,” Gordon glanced back toward the tent’s where Benrey was struggling their way out, their backpack caught on the lip of the tent. Feeling his features heat up just at the sight of them, Gordon quickly turned back to Tommy, “Uh, actually I wanted to ask about the uh, criminal organization you mentioned in my gym before. You said they’re trying to capture mew, right? Wouldn’t it be best if we left the Pokémon alone then?” 

Tommy frowned, his eyebrows knitting together to form more of a woeful expression, “Uhm… Well, yeah, but I don’t- we aren’t really _looking_ for mew so much as coming out here to protect it,” Tommy’s shoulders rose up apprehensively as he finally looked away from Gordon back out at his dewgong resting at the bank on their side of the river, “I know a lot of your studies were on finding mew but uh… Yeah, it would probably be best if we didn’t I think. I just- I’m supposed to make sure there’s nothing really bad going on, and I can’t just let- I can’t let anybody try and capture mew. So, this is uhm, this is more about trying to _prevent_ anybody from finding mew I suppose. If we do end up finding it I uh, we can warn it of the people after it, but I'd really rather not. Just- just to be safe.” 

Gordon tried not to let his disappointment show though as he nodded, scuffing the dirt at his feet, “Yeah, I get that… Can’t have mew getting taken and all,” Gordon paused for a moment to re-organize himself, “Do you know _why_ they’re trying to capture mew?” 

Tommy’s expression lightened slightly as he shook his head, “I wish I did then I could- I could try and understand. But uhm, no I don’t have any information on that,” the Champion glanced behind him, “But we should really be getting a move-on now, can’t uhm, waste the whole day here.” 

As Tommy trotted over in Forzen and Benrey’s direction, Gordon pulled his things out of their tent and set to taking it down and packing them back in the much too tiny bags. Benrey joined him halfway though taking down the first tent, but Gordon appreciated the second set of hands helping despite who it was. 

Gordon… He didn’t _not_ like Benrey; he’d said it before, he _did_ enjoy the guy’s presence and silly banter, but… Benrey was a bit much. Just in the sense that he didn’t seem to know anybody’s boundaries. Or what was socially appropriate or not. It felt like common knowledge, at least to Gordon, that you _probably_ shouldn’t kiss strangers. It would have been different if it had been some sort of like… Group sanctioned game or something, but- you don’t just _kiss_ someone out of nowhere! He- Gordon didn’t want to think about this anymore. He could feel his face flushing again and he really didn’t need people asking him about it right now! 

Pushing the rest of the final tent a bit more forcefully in the bag than he’d meant to, Gordon pulled the drawstring at the top closed. Taking both of the tent bags, Gordon carried them over to Forzen, who’d been the one packing them around. As the ranger tucked them into his bag, he padded over to the riverbank where Tommy was waiting, scratching the fur beneath his dewgong’s chin. 

“We’re all set to go I think,” Gordon said, glancing back to Benrey and Forzen who were still ignoring each other, Forzen absently petting his empoleon’s sleek feathers and Benrey scuffing the ground with his boot, faced in the other direction. 

Tommy looked to the other two as well and nodded, and in one swift motion, slid onto his dewgong’s back and was quickly carried to the other side of the river. Gordon blinked and watched as Forzen’s empoleon slid into the water, with the ranger sliding upon his Pokémon as well and swam to the other side. 

Gordon scowled, waving to his mechanical arm, “I figured this was going to be a group effort or something! I can’t swim like- with one arm out of the water!” 

Tommy looked to be in the middle of putting his dewgong back into her Pokéball but glanced up at his words, “Oh! Uhm, Ginger can carry your things across for you! I’ll- I can tell her to be really careful.” 

“Why can’t she just carry all of us across?” Gordon asked, already in the process of removing his backpack and prosthetic. 

“She gets really nervous around strangers Mr. Freeman! It’d be- I wouldn’t want her throwing you off.” 

That was a fair enough concern Gordon internally admitted. It didn’t mean he had to be happy about having to swim across though. Ginger casually slid through the water toward him and Gordon extra carefully passed his arm and bag over to the Pokémon. Benrey was at his side after a moment and handed their things over as well as the dewgong returned. Once both of their possessions were on the other side of the river and Tommy’s dewgong was back in her Pokéball, Gordon grimaced at the water, near immediately regretting not having sent his shoes over as well. He wasn’t going to complain about it; he’d slogged though a mucky marsh before and had reeked of the nasty mud for a few days after, this would be fine. He’d just… Have to be in wet clothes. Fuck he already hated this, and he wasn’t even in the water yet. 

Steeling himself for the inevitable, Gordon trudged down into the river, watching as the settled mud plumed around where he was stepping. Least it wasn’t in his shoes. As he reached waist depth, he felt a tug on the edge of his sleeve, glancing back to see Benrey yet again. They hadn’t gotten into the water yet but were leaning as far out as they could go to grab onto him without getting wet. 

“Hey uh, can’t- you have to wait. Still gotta’… Follow you. To make sure you aren’t stealing.” 

Gordon watched curiously as Benrey carefully stepped into the water, their face twisting slightly as the water rose above the rim of their boots, soaking the edge of their jeans. They kept a tight hold on the corner of his shirt as they slowly progressed into the water. Finally reaching the spot to where Gordon had gotten to, they glanced over at him with a small uncertain expression, “You uh, going to keep moving? Gonna’ stand here all day? Waste Tommy’s time?” 

“You’re the one holding onto my shirt still dude,” Gordon snorted, taking another small step into the river, “If you’re really worried about the speed I’m going at then why don’t you swim on ahead?” 

Benrey’s frown tightened as they stepped after him, pulling closer slightly as they got deeper into the water, “Yeah uh, if I uhm- if I go on ahead, you’re gonna’… All up and scamper on off. Can’t have any uh, abandoning ship on this journey no sirree.” 

The higher the water rose, edging closer to Gordon’s shoulders now, the nearer Benrey drew to Gordon’s back, eventually so most of their chest was pressed against his side. With how close they’d gotten, Gordon could feel their tight cycle of breathing despite their calm outward appearance, and suddenly- _gosh_ , Gordon felt a little stupid. 

“Can you swim?” 

Benrey puffed out an annoyed breath, “Uh, of course bro, would- it’d be super lame if I couldn’t… Course I can swim.” 

A devious grin grew on Gordons features as he detached himself from Benrey’s grip in a quick movement, kicking out farther into the river to where he could no-longer touch the ground, paddling beneath the water to keep himself from drifting further downstream, “Yeah? You gonna’ apprehend me out here then? I’m off to steal your bag on the other side of the river,” he said teasingly. 

Benrey stiffened slightly, their expression pinching tightly as they considered him a few feet out in the water, “Come on man… Don’t- can’t leave a bro hanging back here,” they whined, pulling at the submerged collar of their shirt, “It’s against the best friend code man… Can’t do this to your best friend…” 

Gordon laughed, swimming back over to Benrey, “Alright, alright, you’re gonna owe me though. Taking _my_ time to help you out.” 

He trailed off as he worked out how best to swim Benrey across while having only one hand, “Okay, you know how to float right?” As Benrey gave him an affirmative nod Gordon continued, “You’re gonna’ have to lie on your back, like, keep floating but uh, yeah, gotta be on your back.” 

Gordon waited a second for Benrey to comply, albeit hesitantly, but Gordon felt his confidence grow as they didn’t immediately start sinking in the water, “I’m going to wrap my forearms under your armpits okay, I don’t- I don’t really have my other hand to really help you across so just like, kick in the water okay? And we can get across faster.” 

Sliding in beside Benrey, Gordon carefully slotted himself on their right side and looped his arms beneath theirs. Benrey stiffened at his touch, but slowly relaxed as Gordon gently pushed them off the bit of land he’d been standing on and started toward the other edge of the river. Eventually Benrey seemed to remember that they could be helping too and kicked their feet wildly making a bunch of splashes in the water. 

Benrey laughed, tilting their head down enough so they managed to get a mouthful of water and sputtered though it, letting out a string of blubbered consonants. Gordon immediately panicked, quickening his pace, and as soon as he felt the heel of his shoe kick the bank, he was shoving Benrey up onto it. 

They grinned dazedly back at him, gross looking water dripping past their lips, “Yo, that was like… Almost a hug bro… Do it again?” 

Gordon frowned, easing back onto his feet, “You weren’t even drowning at all were you?” 

Benrey made an offended sound as Gordon crawled onto the bank, “Uh, I absolutely did swallow some shit water.” 

“Well if you get dysentery I don’t think there’s going to be any helping you,” Gordon said, scowling at the squelching sound his shoes now made, “Your gravestones gonna’ say died from laughing in scummy river water.” 

“ _Yummy_ river water.” 

Gordon huffed out a bewildered laugh as he helped Benrey to their feet, “Whatever man, you wanted to get moving, so let’s go.” 

Collecting their belongings, aside from his prosthetic seeing as he was too wet for that just yet, from Tommy, who’d been very politely waiting out their bullshit; their little group started back off into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> goshghk the idea ov benrey bein afraid ov water.... very funnie to me... also. imagining tommy n forzen waiting on da bank while the two idiots r swimming across da river like :/ guys. come on. we have places to be, evil pokemon teams to stop or whatever. can you PLEASE be gay some other time.  
> (also also. m very tired while posting this one so im kinda sure theres bound to be some sorta mistake in dis chapter so if y'all see sum and could point it out fo me so i can fix it tomorrow *kisses u*) aneyway! m gon go to bed now lol.. gnightzzz


	7. whoagh! game on!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa! normal chapter positing time AND its at a reasonably spaced time from the last update?? this will never happen again :)  
> pokemon compliant violence this chapter! nothing rlly violent happens jus! be prepared!  
> also. i think gordon iz needlessly mean by accident a lot. didnt wanna add dis in da bottom notes jus like. as a recurring theme. i think gordons gon be mean a lot but like. not on purpose. he jus don't think bout what he says lol. wether or not it gon be addressed in story. gordon meanie.

Luckily, it didn’t take terribly long for their clothes to dry. He still had to go through the motions of slogging along the forest floor in wet jeans, and feel the cuffs rub irritatingly at his ankles but with his fire type darmanitan Wyatt out and walking by his side, he dried off fast enough. 

Benrey didn’t have the same luxury with his team of mostly psychic and dark types, but he did bring two of his Pokémon out to walk along with him. One was his lycanroc which Gordon kept himself a wary distance from. But seeing as the Pokémon didn’t seem very intent on approaching him either, he felt his initial fear slowly dissipating. The other Pokémon he had with him was a cacturne named Bones, and at first, it’d seemed as disinterested as Stong had, but as soon as Gordon let Joshua out of his Pokéball, the little riolu was scampering over to the cacturne and running around them. 

The two Pokémon seemed to bond quickly, with Bones helping Joshua up and over particularly tall tree roots before Gordon could move to do so himself, and Joshua insisting on walking in Benrey’s little group next to Bones. A fact Benrey seemed a little more than smug about. 

“Can’t believe your own Pokémon’s ditching you bro,” Benrey drawled, shoving his down into his still slightly damp pockets, “Maybe he’s uh…. Not even your Pokémon at all. Freemans just a thief like I thought.” 

Gordon groaned, pulling off Joshua’s Pokéball from his belt and showing it to Benrey, “ _Look_ at this man, this is his Pokéball! I hatched Joshua myself! He’s my Pokémon man. You’ve just got some fucked up vendetta against me!” 

Benrey shrugged, “Yeah uh, little Lameman didn’t even fight the elite four though so uh… No credibility bro. None; nada. No credentials to say if you’re nice or not.” 

Gordon laughed, stumbling over a rock at his feet in the process only making his laughter escalate, “I’m pretty sure you don’t get a- a certificate from beating the elite four to say if you’re _nice_ or not.” 

“Yeah uh, you wouldn’t know would you though. Lame-ass loser can’t even beat four trainer guys.” 

“And _you_ would know?” Gordon scoffed, shaking off a leaf that’d been clinging to the bottom of his boot, “I was about to beat you in the battle back at my gym! I don’t think you could have beat them if I could beat you.” 

“You didn’t though,” Benrey hummed, “So uh, double no-no. Gordon Thiefman out here trying to steal my Pokémon, aren’t you? Gordon uh, not nice? You aren’t very nice?” 

Throwing his head back in exasperation Gordon was a moment away from starting on another rant before he suddenly noticed the glimmer of eyes up in the shaded branches above them. The Pokémon moved before Gordon was able to announce its presence though. Swooping down from the branches, the noivern aimed itself at him and Gordon was just barely able to jump out of the way in time to avoid the Pokémon’s attack. 

Landing on the ground where he’d just been standing moments before, the noivern swiveled around to face him and let out an ear-piercing shriek, and at it’s cry, a swarm of noibat swarmed down from the trees above them. The sound of furiously flapping wings filled the air as Gordon ducked to the ground, shouting for his darmanitan to let out a flamethrower. He felt the heat from his Pokémon’s fire blasting over his ducked head, but from the burst of air from the wild noivern wings he was sure the bat Pokémon had managed to evade the attack. From the shrill cries of the surrounding noibat though he was sure his darmanitan had at least cleared the air enough for him to stand. 

Quickly rolling to his feet, Gordon directed his darmanitan Wyatt through the battle. Most of the bat Pokémon were flying too high for Gordon to call for his Pokémon to use iron head, so he opted for a slicing solar beam instead. He’d called for the first flamethrower out of a panic knowing it’d do the most damage, but they really didn’t need to be trapped in a wildfire either. Solar beam would leave his Pokémon immobile for a moment, but since everyone had picked up their game to start dealing with the sudden onslaught of wild Pokémon, he was pretty sure he’d be fine. In the quick moment that he had to wait for Wyatt to recharge a solar beam, Gordon quickly glanced around the clearing for Joshua. His little Pokémon could hold his own in a battle, but he wasn’t sure how well he’d fare against a whole group. Luckily, he spotted Joshua and Bones by Tommy, battling groups of noibat side by side. 

The noivern leading the charge was still flapping around through the higher branches of the trees, sending down an occasional dragon pulse at one of them, but Gordon could tell the crowd of noibat was thinning. Most of the little bat Pokémon fled back through the high tree branches from which they’d came, but he saw a few feinted around the clearing and took care not to accidentally stumble over them in his jumping about. Gordon was aiming Wyatt to unleash another solar beam at the thickest swarm of noibat who were crowding Forzen; who was surprisingly holding his own in the battle with his glowing styler and his empoleon at his side, when he heard the sharp sound of the noivern prepping another move from behind him. 

Whirling around, Gordon’s eyes widened at the noivern’s jaws opened wide, the bright indigo glow of another dragon pulse radiating out from the back of its throat. The Pokémon was mere feet away from him, the grey fur around its neck fluffed up in agitation, it’s thick, dark tail lashing about behind it. Instantly, he knew there was no avoiding the blast; he had his back to his Pokémon now, and there was no way he had the time to send one out in time to take the brunt of the impact for him. There wasn’t enough room for him to fully dodge in their close quarters and he sure as hell couldn’t fight the Pokémon on his own. He may have run around in the field chasing wild Pokémon, back in his days before he’d lost his arm, but even then, he hadn’t directly interacted with them. This was different, even from loosing his arm, the Pokémon had purposefully incited the battle in the middle of the day, when it was supposed to be _asleep_ ; noivern and noibat were supposed to be nocturnal. It didn’t change the fact that he was about to be blasted in the chest by a dragon pulse though. 

Gordon barely managed to take a step back before he was being thrown onto his side, a pair of arms wrapped around his middle as he collided with the ground. A rock scraped through the fabric of his shirt and tore at his forearm, but he wasn’t being destroyed by the Pokémon’s blast, so that was a relief, despite the pain. His vision swam as his eyes locked onto the figure of the noivern, currently dealing with Benrey’s lycanroc. Stong’s glimmering pelt flashed in the dappled sunlight as she deftly charged the noivern, sending the wild Pokémon scrabbling back a few paces. Finally, locking eyes with him once more, the noivern let out another piercing screech, but instead of drawing more noibat into the clearing, he could see from the edge of his vison that they were _retreating_. Slipping away back into the tree-tops, presumably to go back to sleep like they were supposed to be doing. Turning with a flutter of its strong wings, the noivern battered its way out of the clearing, leaving the rest of them standing, or in Gordon’s case, lying there in shock. 

As the rustling of the bushes finally quieted from the bat Pokémon’s exit, Gordon finally looked down to see Benrey, still with their arms wrapped around his middle, their attention focused on their Pokémon, sniffing at the bushes where the noivern had retreated to moments before. Gordon didn’t want to admit it, but they had saved him, probably from certain death. Finally though, they seemed to realize his eyes were on them and they slowly turned to look back at him, their pupils blown wide in shock, showing more emotion than Gordon had ever seen on them before. Their mouth opened once but quickly shut again as they continued to stare. 

Tommy’s voice jerked them both out of their momentary stupor, Benrey quickly clambering backward off him, deliberately aiming their gaze in the direction of the Champion, “That- that was a lot of wild Pokémon! A uhm- a whole hoard of them!” 

With the atmosphere shattered, Gordon let out a huff of agreement, easing his left forearm up off the ground to examine it, distantly listening to Tommy as he turned to Forzen to talk about the state of the ranger's styler. He expected the Pokémon battles to get tougher as they went in, but he didn’t really expect it to be so sudden. They’d just been seeing marill and pichu across the river and now they were facing hordes of Pokémon swooping down at them from the trees? Yeah, it would take a little adjustment to get used to the sudden nervousness that was going to be sitting with him now in preparation for another swarm of furious Pokémon. 

Shaking off another rising bout of anxiety, Gordon turned his gaze down to the cut along the side of his forearm. There was a bit of dirt around the wound from where it’d scraped along the rock, but the cut didn’t seem too deep. There were a few faint scratch lines around the main injury but those would probably fade in a day or so; the most pressing matter at the moment was getting it cleaned. Just as Gordon turned to grab his backpack, Benrey took his injured arm with one hand and carefully with his other retraced another Pokéball. A chimecho popped free from the confines of Pokéball, its bell chiming pleasantly. 

“Sweety, could you uhm, heal bell please?” 

Benrey’s voice was more of a mumble at this point, but his words got across to his Pokémon as the chimecho floated closer. The Pokémon drifted around his outstretched arm for a moment before it began to sing, a crisp little melody of tinkling bells that had his skin slowly healing. Gordon had to turn his head away as the wound healed itself, but when the song eventually stopped, he worked up the courage to look back. And, just as expected, his arm was healed, no trace of dirt leftover on his skin either. 

Gordon glanced hesitantly back to Benrey as they quietly thanked their Pokémon and put them back into their Pokéball and onto their belt. Their thumb tapped lightly against his arm once before they retracted their grip, looking back to the ground beneath them. 

“I uh- saw from across the clearing-” 

“Thank you for coming to help-” 

They both spoke at the same time, each apparently not able to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer. Gordon chuckled lightly as he rubbed his newly healed patch of skin, “You go ahead.” 

Benrey nodded stiffly, shifting in place slightly, “Turned around from just, over there somewhere,” he distractedly waved to a place off to his right with his hand, “And uh, saw you turning around to see the noivern and your uhm, your Pokémon was busy and Tommy had a hold on where I was so uh, couldn’t let a bro get blasted into next week so uhm, yeah, sorry for tackling you into the ground though, not- not very poggers.” 

Gordon let out a breathy half-laugh, half-sigh, “You’re alright dude, I was just going to thank you for actually coming to help out,” Gordon idly scratched at the back of his head, realizing his ponytail had come loose, he set to fixing it as he tired to figure out what he was going to say, “I was uh… I kind of figured I was going to be gone for a moment there, you know? The noivern kinda had me at point blank range and I assumed everybody was going to be too busy in their battles to notice so uh…. Yeah, you popped out of nowhere and managed to get me out of the way in time so. Thanks. Also for healing up my arm too.” 

Benrey blinked at him, his gaze going glassy for a moment before he quickly went back to looking away from him again, “Yeah uh, no problem dude. Just- gamer bud’s helping each-other out you know?” 

Gordon smiled, clapping one hand onto Benrey’s shoulder as he rose back to his feet, just in time too because Stong was trotting back over toward Benrey, along with Bones and Joshua. Quickly distracting himself from the approaching lycanroc, Gordon turned his attention toward his riolu who was now clinging to his leg, Joshua’s muzzle pressed up against his calf. Gingerly, he lifted his Pokémon into his arms, patting the top of Joshua’s head as he buried his snout into the side of Gordon’s neck. 

“It’s alright Joshy’,” Gordon quietly reassured his Pokémon, “Just a battle. You got through it just fine, I’m right here.” 

He noticed his darmanitan loping over in his direction as well and took a few steps away from Benrey so Wyatt wouldn’t trample him by accident as he tended to do. 

“Hey bud,” Gordon murmured, keeping one arm around Joshua as he patted the top of his darmanitan’s head, “You hurt at all?” 

His Pokémon made a sound of disagreement, so Gordon nodded, patting the top of Wyatt’s head once more before putting him back into his Pokéball. Gingerly, he shifted his grip on Joshua so he could better meet his Pokémon’s teary stare, “You alright too?” 

Joshua whined softly but shook his head, turning back to sling his head over Gordon’s shoulder again. Resigning himself to certainty that he was going to be carrying Joshua around for a good nother’ hour, if not the rest of the day, Gordon glanced back to Benrey. He’d put his cacturne back into it’s Pokéball, but was currently scuffing up the fluffy, blue fur on the side of his lycanroc’s head. Probably calling its attention by his gaze, Stong blinked up to him, her red glare not nearly as intimidating as it’d once been, but still enough to make him stiffen slightly. 

Benrey turned around to look at him as well, his hands pausing in the motion of ruffling his Pokémon’s fur, “You uhm, you need her away right now?” 

Gordon shook his head, diverting his stare toward Tommy and Forzen in favor of Benrey for this conversation, “No she’s uh, she’s alright to be out, I don’t really mind her too much.” 

He could feel Benrey’s intense stare on him for a few moments longer before he finally nodded, rising back to his feet, “Alright.” 

Tommy, finally meeting Gordons gaze, offered him a worried half-smile, “You both- are you both uhm, alright?” 

Gordon nodded, “Yeah, for the most part; you guys?” 

Forzen huffed, stalking over to show Gordon his ranger styler, “Fucking noibat grabbed it and busted it up is what. Look at this shit, broke the base of it!” 

Gordon couldn’t really see what the ranger was talking about, but he nodded along anyway, not really wanting to invoke any of that anger onto himself, “Are you going to be able to fix it?” he asked hesitantly, glancing back up to the scarred man’s face. 

Forzen frowned, turning the styler over once before fitting it back to its holster on his wristband, “It’ll be fine, just gotta wait till we pause for the night to work on it, so if we encounter anything else before then I’m going to be having to rely on my empoleon, Tyson,” Forzen sighed, letting his shoulders droop slight, “I just wanted to come out here to graduate man. This was supposed to be a relatively easy quest for me.” 

“Graduate?” Gordon asked incredulously, trying his hardest to hide his quickly growing smile. 

Forzen immediately straightened back up, his eyes going wide like that wasn’t something he was supposed to have said, “Uhh… No,” quickly spinning around, Forzen tromped forward back in the direction they’d been heading in, his empoleon trailing along behind him, “Okay guys lets go, Pokémon to save and or battle out here. Pick up the pace.” 

Tommy offered Gordon a look that just _screamed_ , ‘you’d better get used to it’ before he was quickly padding after Forzen and his Pokémon. Gordon waited for a moment longer before continuing after the Champion, going back trying to keep his eyes on where he was placing his feet again because now he was carrying Joshua, _as well_ as himself, which probably wasn’t a good decision, but Gordon would rather deal with the riolu being a little clingy over going back to outright ignoring everything he said again. He had no doubts in his mind that Joshua would probably go back to doing that in less than an hour, but he’d take what he could get. 

And with Benrey and Stong padding along behind him, they fell into line behind Tommy and Forzen, continuing to push their way through the darkening trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ifv y'all cant tell. I LOVE pokemon ranger games SO much so that iz bleeding into forzen lore in here lol.  
> also!!! theres no actual cowboy pokemon so i compensated w cacturne but!! think its close enough lol, joshua get to hang w da cowboy pokemon n be best friends. (srsly doe, even if there is an actual cowboy pokemon introduced somewhere down the line i think cacturne would still fit better for being benreys pokemon cuz o the dark typing? dunno! i jus think bones and joshua being pokemon friends is!! fun for me to write)  
> also also, me naming gordons darmanitan wyatt :)  
> ((tghis chapter might be a lil short actually but m happy with it so!! here it goes!!)


	8. *comical heart beating out of chest*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoah hey again! depression do be hitting harder these days lol. so this chapter may be a lil funky becuz m writing it in the middle of that lol but!! yeah! fun times here!! >:)  
> also!! gordon has a little bit ov bad thoughts this chapter, but its just like, regular gordon themed worrying if hes good enough.

Much to Forzen’s relief, they didn’t encounter any big hoards of Pokémon like the noivern group, but periodically they did run across one or two agitated Pokémon. The first Pokémon they encountered after the horde battle, was a large ursarang they encountered by accident, seeming to have stumbled upon its den. But Benrey and Tommy managed to take out pretty easily with the combined forces of their Pokémon. The last and most recent they ran across was a group of two primeape. Gordon easily delt with them upon bringing out his granbull but seeing the way Joshua’s little face lit up with fear again at the sight of the battle, Gordon felt his heart sink again. 

He didn’t want Joshua to be afraid of battling, but it seemed the noivern’s surprise attack had shaken him quite a bit. It was especially bad for a trainer to have an uncooperative Pokémon who would refuse to battle, but that was a worry in the back of Gordon’s mind for now. He would never _force_ Joshua into a battle, but maybe he could guide the riolu back to the excitement of it. Because battles weren’t always about defending yourself against wild jungle Pokémon! They were fun ways to pass the time and bond with friends too; so, Gordon just needed to get Joshua to see that again. 

When they did finally stop for the day to make camp, Joshua was asleep in Gordon’s arms, his chin draped lightly over his shoulder and snoring softly. Putting the little riolu back in his Pokéball for now, Gordon promised himself that he’d come up with a solution soon enough to not have Joshua be scared of battling. 

Again, he set up their tents with Benrey, and even with the hindrance of his prosthetic, he noticed that he was a little quicker at it than yesterday. Shoving the rest of his belongings inside their tent when they’d gotten it set up, Gordon helped Tommy and Forzen on making their meal for dinner. He didn’t really understand what it was that they were cooking, but the two seemed confident enough in their dish, so Gordon just chopped what they told him to and placed it into the pot. Benrey seemed content just to watch again, resting idly on the ground nearby, his chin held in his hand as he watched their proceedings with a flat, sleepy stare. 

Eventually, they finished making the food though, and Gordon was pleasantly surprised to find that it was just as good as yesterdays meal. It was some sort of herb and fruit curry mix, which was something he wouldn’t have normally tried on his own, but it was still extremely good. 

As Forzen set to fixing his styler with Tommy leaning over to his shoulder to help out with it, Gordon quickly retreated to their tent to pull Joshua’s Pokéball out from his backpack. It was darker inside the tent than outside, but the backlight from the fire served for him enough to see by as Gordon inched over to where his things were placed. 

The atmosphere had calmed significantly from when they were facing the threat of wild Pokémon popping up around every corner. They were still in the middle of the forest where that was still a likely prospect in all honesty, but Gordon idly hoped the Pokémon had enough sense just to go to bed at night and leave their group alone. It’s not like the noivern were abiding by their natural sleeping habits, so maybe the rest of the usually nocturnal Pokémon would be diurnal here too! He doubted it. 

He heard the telltale zipper sound of someone following him into the ten, and Gordon didn’t even have to glance over his shoulder to know who it was. Given, his options here were limited, but he knew Benrey enough by now to recognize his presence. The plastic crinkled under him as he worked his way to Gordon’s side, glancing down to the Pokéball held in his hands, then up to his face. 

“You uh- you come in here to try and steal? Get… Get me on my own so you can steal huh?” 

Gordon sighed softly, turning Joshua’s Pokéball over in his hands, “No dude I just…” he sighed, easing back slightly so he could scratch at the back of his head with his free hand, “Joshua was pretty scared after all… All the battles we did today, and I probably should have put him away sooner, so he didn’t have to be so scared, but I wasn’t- I wasn’t _thinking_ at the time and I just… I don’t want Joshua to be afraid of other Pokémon and battling.” 

“The little guy was fine with Bones though right?” Benrey asked, shifting so he could get a better look at the Pokéball in his hand, “Wasn’t afraid of him it didn’t look like.” 

Huffing, Gordon shot a lighthearted glare in Benrey’s direction, “That was a special case. I think there are only two Pokémon in the entire world that he’ s warmed up to that fast and it’s Bones and my D- and one of the professors eelektross. It’s not- Joshua’s not like that with everybody you know.” 

Benrey hummed softly, sitting back on his heels, “If he’s fine with my Pokémon still then just uh…” smacking his lips, Benrey patted at his knees in though, “Just- you could send em’ out together with Tommy and Forzen’s Pokémon and it’ll be all good.” 

That… That wasn’t actually a bad plan. Gordon was still skeptical of Benrey though so he wasn’t going to agree to it immediately, “That doesn’t change the fact that he might be afraid of battles now, what if he sees like- some Pokémon using a move or whatever and gets freaked out. This could be a thing that could affect him like, _forever_ , dude. I don’t- I don’t want that for Joshua.” 

“Have you asked though? Like- you aren’t going to know unless you like… Actually, try anything, idiot. Just have to do it, don’t be stupid and think about it. Just ask the little dude and let him chill with everybody.” 

“Yeah? And what would you propose?” 

Benrey’s gaze darted quickly darted away, focusing on his own backpack on the other side of the tent, “You uh- just- let me work my tricks friend. Gotta’ get outta here so I can make my epic plan. Go- go take your little stolen Pokémon and talk to everybody else, I’ll uh, I’ve got it under control.” 

Gordon leaned back slightly, his tone heading toward incredulous, “What do you _mean_ you’ve got it under control? I don’t even know what you’re talking about man.” 

Groaning, Benrey shoved him away, already turning toward his pack, “Just- tell Tommy to let Sunkist out and Forzen’s already got his Pokémon there so you’re fine. Just- chill out man, things are gonna be fine go- go talk.” 

He really didn’t want to leave Benrey alone with the rest of his things in the tent, but with the glare they were shooting him after he didn’t immediately move, it didn’t really seem like he had a choice. Holding his hands up in submission, Gordon crawled out from the tent, spying Forzen slipping his styler back onto his wrist with Tommy grinning at his side. 

Padding over, Gordon waved awkwardly, casting a hesitant glance back at their tent where Benrey still was, “Hey! Benrey uh… They kicked me out, I guess. They said you should take out Sunkist though? I don’t really know what for but, yeah.” 

Tommy quirked one eyebrow at him as he moved to sit down across from the two, “Why- what were you two talking about?” 

Gordon gestured to the Pokéball in his hand, “Joshua was getting real nervous when he was out earlier, and I was jut worried about him I guess. I uh, I don’t want him to be _afraid_ of other Pokémon you know, but Benrey said they were going to do something to help that I guess? But they said you need to have Sunkist out for it.” 

Tommy perked up slightly, a little smile splaying over his lips as he grabbed a Pokéball off his belt-loop, “Oh I- I can do that for you Mr. Freeman! I wouldn’t want Joshua to be scared of Sunkist she’s- she’s really nice!” 

Forzen glanced off to his side and waved his empoleon over as well, leaving Gordon just holding Joshua’s Pokéball in his anxious grasp. He knew that whatever Benrey was planning, it was just to help, so he shouldn’t be as nervous as he was. But he still couldn’t help the nagging feeling that maybe something would go wrong and then Joshua would refuse to listen to him and hate him _forever_ \- 

Gordon shrugged off the sudden tremor that wracked his body, fumbling with Joshua’s Pokéball for a second before he got it opened and. Joshua blinked at him a little sleepily, glancing around at everyone for a moment, the little sensors on the sides of his head lifting slightly as he no-doubt sensed Gordon’s apprehension and that was it, he was going to go back to being scared and it was going to be over for Gordon as a trainer and- he was perking up at the sight of something behind Gordon and immediately running over- and it filled Gordon with so much _relief_ to see that he wasn’t scared in the slightest. 

He rubbed at his face with one hand as he watched Joshua leap right at Bones who was quickly followed out by Benrey, looking down at the two Pokémon in surprise. Benrey’s chimecho twined out from behind his trainer, it’s little bell chiming louder than before in a pleasant song that echoed through the trees. And maybe if Gordon was a little less focused on the fact that maybe he wasn’t a complete failure of a trainer and that his little Pokémon was stronger than he thought, he might have been worried about attracting more Pokémon to their position, but for now he was content to focus on the happy little barks Joshua was making and how his muzzle was scrunched up in a small grin as he hung onto the cacturne. 

Benrey’s nostrils flared in a silent huff as they watched Joshua now trotting over to meet Sunkist, “Didn’t even need my epic strats bro. You were jus’ worried about nothing,” their gleaming gaze lifted to Gordon, a hint of humor in their stare, “See? the little guys just fine.” 

Gordon just shook his head, looking over once he realized Tommy and Forzen had gotten to their feet and had begun to dance at some point. Tommy was leading Forzen around in some sort of waltz that Gordon was pretty sure he recognized but couldn’t name for the life of him. Forzen’s brows were knitted together in concentration as he focused on keeping up with the Champions steps as Tommy increased their pace ever so slightly, and Gordon found himself laughing a little despite himself. 

Benrey’s chimecho, Sweetie was still twirling around mid-air, it’s paper thin tail twisting around mesmerizingly as it sang. The rest of the Pokémon seemed content just to play amongst themselves, with Joshua and Bones having climbed atop a drowsy Sunkist’s back. Occasionally the arcanine would sneeze, residual smoke curling up from the fire types nostrils at the action and Joshua would bat at it with one paw, only making it dissipate faster. To which Bones would shove at the back of Sunkist’s mane, urging her to do it again. Forzen’s empoleon, Tyson seemingly oblivious to the other three Pokémon’s antics, looked closer to drifting off to sleep. The empoleon’s head bobbed slightly as it struggled to keep awake, its crown occasionally brushing at the leaves above its head as it’d jerk back upright. 

He jumped at Benrey’s sudden presence just off to his left. Laughing off his initial reaction, Gordon distantly recognized their tense expression, “How do you _do_ that man; you just- you sneak up on me too many times.” 

Their gaze slowly slid downward to him, their hands twitching at their sides betraying some sort of nervousness, “Mean you can’t be cool? Can’t just uh… Be quiet? Not even putting any of your points into the sneak skill?” 

“You don’t have a sneak skill in real life its- its how you walk bro.” 

“Yeah well uh, maybe learn to walk quietly then? Freeman with his- stomping around, making a huge racket, gonna wake everybody up bro. So uh, wanna… Uh, wanna come on up here and walk quiet? I can teach you? Do a little walkie’ in a little square please?” 

Gordon arched his eyebrow at Benrey as they extended a hand in his direction, the corner of their mouth hopefully upturned in a way that already had Gordon’s hand moving into their own without a second thought. Benrey beamed at him with a wobbly smile as they helped him up to his feet, their cold hand tightening slightly around his own. And as Gordon’s palm naturally fitted itself to Benrey’s waist, he was able to fully appreciate their height difference, with Benrey being maybe a whole head shorter than him. 

Benrey, seeming to make the same realization quickly glanced away as their hand tentatively clasped onto his shoulder, “Fuckin- being too tall, no fair at all bro.” 

Gordon smirked triumphantly at his silent win, but allowed Benrey to lead him through a few simple dance steps, murmuring out a few quiet corrections when necessary, their fingers tapping over his shoulder to their Pokémon’s soft tune. Just as he figured he was getting the hang of the few simple steps, Gordon stumbled over his own tennis shoes and overcorrected, planting his foot down directly on top of Benrey’ 

Their features scrunched up slightly as he quickly drew his foot back, “Jeez big fucking- Feetman over here really want to stomp huh? Trying to bruise all my fucking tootsies over here?” 

“Sorry, no I-” Gordon paused, looking back up at Benrey as he recounted what they’d just said, “Did you just call me _Feetman_?” 

“Huh? I didn’t uh hear you over the sound of you crunching through all the bones in my feet bro.” 

Gordon tilted his head back as he let out a belt of laughter, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so, “Fucking _Feetman?_ ” He asked between near hysterical laughs, tears pricking at the edge of his eyes as he finally came back down to earth. Grinning at Benrey through his watery gaze he just shook his head, “You are an absolute _anomaly_.” 

Smiling as if it were some sort _award_ that they’d earned that title, Benrey gingerly guided Gordon back into the steps of the simple little dance, their teeth flashing brightly in the firelight. 

Fortunately for Benrey, Gordon managed to avoid stepping on them any more than he already had, though with the way they were favoring their right foot after a bit, Gordon decided to call it quits for the night. Not- not because he was imagining dancing with Benrey again, that was absolutely _not_ a thought he was dwelling on and forcing himself not to think about even as he put Joshua back into his Pokéball and settled into his sleeping bag for the night. 

Because maybe Benrey _was_ a little peculiar and targeted Gordon as a prime subject to make fun of and really, Gordon couldn’t blame him for that. It was all in a good-natured spirit anyway. But it was the fact that _maybe_ that teasing had grown on Gordon quite a bit despite how he always made sure to tell Benrey that it irked him. But it was the fact that _maybe_ Gordon genuinely enjoyed Benrey’s presence next to him as he snuggled deeper into the depths of his sleeping bag to hide his flushed face despite the darkness outside. And it was the fact that _maybe_ Gordon had grown just a little too attached to the so called ‘anomaly’ that had decided to pester him all day and night since the first day they’d met. 

Sure the guy was irritating at times, but he was still genuinely endearing in spite of it and maybe once they were finished with this whole expedition Gordon would casually ask him if he maybe wanted to hang out or grab a bite to eat sometime. Just the thought of doing that though sent an instant bolt of embarrassment though him, so instead of dwelling on the thought, Gordon rolled over in the sleeping bag uncomfortably, pushing that off as a thought for a later Gordon. 

“Dude, you’re making a whole fuckin’ racket over there,” Benrey grumbled from the other side of the tent, “Quiet down.” 

“Sorry,” Gordon murmured back, shifting over again, “There’s some uh, rock under where my sleeping bag is or something.” 

Benrey huffed, his dark silhouette turning over to face him, probably so he could glare at Gordon better, “Just scooch over here, I want to actually be able to _sleep_ dude.” 

Gordon scowled despite the fact that it was too dark to properly see facial features, but gingerly scooted over anyway, so they were maybe an arm’s length apart from one another after he finally settled again. Benrey, seemingly satisfied, settled back down, one arm laid out under their head like a pillow and the other tucked up close under their chin. 

Exhaling softly, Gordon finally closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of Benrey’s gentile breathing as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW this chapter could be worded a little better and that it's a little nonsensical and silly. I KNOW it iz a little short but like... hey... YOU came here for this content. i am king ov dis realm. will hear no complaints.  
> Aneyways lol. gay idiots chapter. because when i said they're stupid i MEANT it.  
> also; my vision wobbly rn and i keep reading everybody as everypony


	9. here for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive actually had this chapter written out fo a few days now? idk why i didnt post it sooner lol. whateva, here it iz!

Gordon blinked awake to a sharp prodding at the side of his jaw, a flash of irritation coursing through him as he tiredly batted the object away trying to settle back into sleep. He didn’t know what he had been dreaming about but judging from his sudden annoyance at having been woken up, it’d probably been something _good_ for once. As he felt something grab onto his shirt collar though, Gordon threw away any ideas of getting back to sleep any time soon. 

Glaring into the semi-darkness of the tent, Gordon found that it was Benrey’s hand that was clutching onto his shirt like a lifeline. From the faint light coming from outside the tent, Gordon took in their strained features, eyebrows pulling together minutely and the occasional twitching of their lips pulling back in a grimace. Their breathing was coming out in short little wheezes against his shoulder, their chest heaving with the effort. Again, Benrey’s hand unfurled and twitched against the underside of his chin, and Gordon’s brain finally unwound itself enough to realize they were having a _nightmare_. 

Carefully, Gordon moved his good arm from out of his sleeping bag and worked Benrey’s death grip from his shirt, gently placing their arm back at their side. They whined softly, their eyes flicking back and forth wildly beneath their lids, one leg kicking out in the middle of their dream. Gordon’s mouth tightened with concern as he slowly sat back upright, reaching his hand down and lightly shook their shoulder. 

Almost immediately, Benrey’s eyes shot open, scouring the floor of the tent quickly before looking up to Gordon, with a wide-eyed, animal stare. Their breathing still sounded rough, but slowly, they seemed to come back to the realization that whatever had been going on in their dream wasn’t a threat to them now. 

“Are you alright?” Gordon asked quietly, lightly squeezing their shoulder in what he hoped would be a comforting manner. 

Benrey quickly looked away, wetting their lips before gradually sitting back up. Gordon retracted his hand from their shoulder as they fully righted themself, watching as their expression flickered from painfully neutral to something more vulnerable that made his heart ache. 

“I- You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Gordon said carefully, trying to sound as easygoing as possible. 

They nodded slowly, their lips tightening slightly as they fixed their gaze on the seam of the tent, “Could you stay for a minute?” Benrey asked, their voice a hoarse little whisper, fists tightening around the edge of their sleeping bag as they continued, “I just- I need to not- I _can’t_ -” 

“Are you alright if I take your hand for a second?” 

Jerkily bobbing their head, Gordon gingerly removed one of Benrey’s hands from the sleeping bag, rubbing his thumb over the soft back of it in a soothing motion, “I can stay here with you until you’re okay, alright? I’m- I’m not going to leave. I won't go.” 

Benrey sucked in a rattly breath, finally looking back to him, their eyes going wide again. Stiffly, their other hand removed itself from the sleeping bag as well, settling for tapping faintly at the waterproof material. 

“Hug?” they asked him after a moment, their gaze all too hopeful and raw for him to disagree. 

And so carefully, Gordon retracted his hand from Benrey’s and pulled them closer to his body, winding both of his arms up and around their shoulders. He was stuck resting halfway out of his sleeping bag in his new, half leaned over position, but as Benrey squirmed closer to his chest, wrapping their arms around his middle, Gordon quickly decided that the sleeping bag was ultimately trivial at this point. They were still wearing that same ratty, gamer beanie, but with what little patch of dark hair that was revealed at the base of their head Gordon carefully ran his fingers through it, earning a soft sniff in acknowledgement. 

Benrey’s head butted lightly against the underside of his chin as Gordon worked his hand up beneath their beanie, tousling his black hair hidden beneath, “You uh, gay or somethin’? Trying to uh… Trying to work your little charms on me?” 

“You _asked_ for the hug in the first place,” Gordon mumbled, letting his eyes slip closed as he idly petted the small hairs at the base of his neck, “Gotta… Check your own fucking- actions or whatever before you go calling _me_ the gay one.” 

“Didn’t ask you to all up and braid my hair though.” 

“I can stop any time, just say the word.” 

Benrey only grumbled something that probably wasn’t even words to begin with in response, pressing his nose to the hollow of his neck for a few moments. Gordon could feel the chill of the morning now, pressing in on his shoulders making him want to crawl back into the comfortable warmth of his sleeping bag and go to sleep. Straining his ears, he could hear quiet, almost whistling snores from the tent over and the soft rustling of the trees outside. He could feel Benrey’s fingers tapping gently over his back, charting out some unheard rhythm, and his smooth breaths against his breastbone. He could just see the slope of Benrey’s back as he leaned into him, only just beginning to shift slightly as he regained his composure. 

When Benrey eventually unfurled his arms from where they’d been wrapped around Gordon, he pulled back as well, but left a hand on his shoulder, “Good now?” 

Nodding, he averted his eyes once more, instead, lightly running his thumb over the cold plastic flooring of the tent, “Yeah, uh, thanks for that. Sorry if I uh… Woke you up or whatever.” 

Withdrawing his hand, Gordon waved him off, shucking his sleeping bag, shivering at the full force of the cold, and moving over to his backpack, “You’re fine, it’s nearly time we should be waking up anyway.” 

Benrey snorted at that, shuffling around with something on his side of the tent, “Maybe _you_ like to wake up at dawn. Little- little nerd trying to get to class early?” 

“No,” Gordon said all too quickly, changing out of his clothes into another outfit he’d had packed away, “I just- actually, you know what man? You can shut that up right now.” 

Laughing, Benrey made a sound like he was kicking at the wall of the tent, “So you really _are_ a nerd then? No lies; not clickbait?” 

“I don’t know how you didn’t _not_ know. I mean- I was a Pokémon researcher before all this shit, working under my uhm,” Gordon checked his prosthetic and tucked it back in the bag, seeing as it obviously wasn’t charged, “I worked under the professors for a long while. I’m pretty sure that’s certified nerd material.” 

As Gordon was tying the laces on his boots, he glanced over to Benrey who looked to be in the middle of doing the same with his back turned to him, “Since the other two are asleep still, you want to scout out the area ahead? Just to like, check the path or whatever?” 

Benrey nodded, his tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on double-knotting his shoes, “Yeah uh, more Pokémon might be out though. Day and night ones since the sun’s uh, just coming up. Plus, they might be closer since not everybody’s woken up, so we haven’t made a bunch of noise yet to scare em’ off.” 

“We’ll be fine,” Gordon assured him, taking a Pokéball from his bag you’ve got your Pokémon and I’ve been wanting to level Joshua up some more anyway.” 

Benrey just hummed in response, making sure his laces were tight before turning to grab a Pokéball of his own out of his backpack, “Alright, uh, let’s go then.” 

Gordon shimmied forward, unzipping the face of their tent and padding out into the chilly clearing. It was a drastic change from where they’d camped yesterday, trees shrouded out nearly all the pale morning light, just allowing a few choice beams to graze over the scant grass beneath them. The bushes were sparser, growing in bunched clusters, some of which reached up and over his head, fighting for the limited sunlight. The charred pile of wood where they’d made a fire the night before fit right in with the shady scenery. 

Shuffling out from the tent behind him, Benrey zipped the entrance back up and padded out past him, shoving his hands into his pockets as he surveyed the space as well. Finally seeming to pick a direction, Benrey headed off toward the small gap between two trees at the far edge of the glade. Gordon started off after him at a leisurely pace, investigating their surrounding foliage with a decent amount of interest. 

They were content to walk in relevant silence, Benrey leading the way and pointing out large roots or rocks when need be, leaving Gordon to trail behind him and survey the terrain. As they walked farther from their campsite, Gordon noticed a few groups of morelull hopping through the undergrowth just a little way from where they were walking. Their shining mushroom caps acting as a beacon of sorts in the darkness. Quickly though, they disappeared from view as they rounded a particularly large tree, leaving Gordon watching the space where they’d disappeared off to. 

As they trekked farther, Gordon spotted a few more kinds of Pokémon; two little venipede rooting through the leaf litter, partially hidden by a broken tree-root, a nickit watching them curiously from its burrow, and a group of zubat curled together on the branch of a partially fallen tree. 

Benrey stopped abruptly, making Gordon glance back to him to see what he’d paused for. Just ahead was a partially open clearing, a large swathe of sunlight lighting the moss patched ground. The trees encircling the clearing were covered in various scratch-marks, some old and faded, but the most prominent were the new yellow lines scoured through the thick wood. A few tufts of soot black hair hung on the thorny bushes around the perimeter of the area, a plain display that some Pokémon _lived_ here. 

“Uh-oh,” Benrey said in a toneless voice, just as a pointed muzzle parted the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing. Two mightyena followed by a group of three poochyena padded carefully into the clearing, their muzzles wrinkling and noses twitching as they quickly caught sight of Benrey and Gordon, both still standing there dumbly, just watching the wild Pokémon. Finally kicking himself into gear, Gordon quickly withdrew Joshua’s Pokéball from his side and released him between himself and the group of wild Pokémon. Benrey, seeming to realize that he should probably be doing the same, loosed his porygon-z out at Joshua’s side. 

The two mightyena charged first which Gordon easily had the time to shout for Joshua to avoid. While Benrey quickly intercepted and delt with one of them, Gordon focused on the one that was currently skidding over the ground and turning around to have another go at Joshua. Shouting for a quick attack with a force palm follow-up, the mightyena stumbled back, blinking in surprise. Its shock didn’t last long though and almost immediately lunged forward again, this time managing to land a bite on Joshua. His riolu was quickly able to dislodge himself from the lock, but Gordon could see the anger rising in the little Pokémon’s eyes. Gordon called out for a brick break, watching from the edge of his vision as the poochyena began creeping in around Joshua. 

As soon as the mightyena was downed, one of the poochyena leaped onto Joshua’s back, sinking its sharp teeth into his shoulder. Howling in anger, Joshua beat the Pokémon back with another force palm, and on Gordon’s call, darted after the other one who had been circling around Benrey’s porygon-z. 

It didn’t take terribly long for them to take out the group of wild Pokémon, but the battle seemed to have taken a toll on Benrey’s Pokémon. As soon as the final Pokémon retreated through the bushes with a sharp yelp, Benrey was stepping toward his Pokémon, biting his lip with an apologetic expression. 

“Didn’t know it was gonna’ be a whole horde of em’, Gamer,” Benrey murmured out, carefully petting the top of his Pokémon’s head, “I’ll make sure I get you some treats when we get back alright?” 

The porygon-z seemed satisfied with the offer and butted its beak into his palm, making the other man’s lips twitch up into a small smile as he tucked his Pokémon back into its Pokéball. 

“Gamer?” Gordon asked questioningly as Benrey turned back to face him. 

“Huh? It’s a good name, shut up. Wait-” 

Benrey’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced out to Joshua, still standing with a confident little expression in the middle of the mossy clearing. Gordon didn’t get what he was surprised about till he noticed the glowing blue aura radiating out from around his Pokémon. Gordon grinned wildly as Joshua turned back around to look at him, his ruby eyes gleaming with pride as the glow around him intensified. The white light consumed Joshua for a moment before finally dissipating, leaving Joshua there still, but standing maybe two feet taller. His ears were more angular now, and the sensors on the side of his mask had doubled and moved to the back of his head. Joshua’s tail wagged wildly as he looked his newly evolved form over, barking in excitement as he finally glanced back to Gordon. 

Gordon bounded forward, unable to contain his beaming grin and immediately set to petting his Pokémon, “Oh such a good boy! You evolved right after the battle and-” Gordon cut himself off as he ruffled the velvety dark fur on Joshua’s face, “You did such a good job, I’m so proud of you Joshy.” 

His Pokémon made a sound of agreement, his tail wagging faster behind him to the point where it was mostly a blur at this point. Lucario only evolved with high levels of friendship, so for Joshua to have evolved he had to trust Gordon a pretty significant amount, and despite their multitudes quarrels early on in his Pokémon’s training, he’d _still_ managed to gain some amount of respect from the Pokémon. Apparently enough for Joshua to have _evolved_. 

Gordon laughed, ruffling the fur on Joshua’s head once more before turning back to Benrey, still smiling widely, “Come on, we’ve gotta get back to Tommy and Forzen. I’ve gotta’ show Joshua off now!” 

Benrey rolled his eyes in an over-exaggerated motion, a small smile curling over his lips as well, “Just going to gloat about how you evolved a Pokémon that wasn’t even yours bro?” 

Scowling, Gordon nudged Benrey’s shoulder lightly as he trotted on ahead, taking the lead this time with Joshua following closely behind him, “Joshua’s obviously not stolen. Lucario have to trust their trainers to evolve!” 

“Lying to your stolen Pokémon… So evil of you bro, can’t even believe it.” 

Gordon just rolled his eyes, continuing down Benrey’s previously forged path with a skip in his step that was bound to have him tripping over something in the next few minutes, but for now, he was happy just to skip along. Trip be damned, Gordon just got his previously most troublesome Pokémon to _evolve_. And with friendship no less! He could already imagine the look on Darnold’s face when he brought Joshua back to the house fully evolved. Hey, maybe even at this rate they’d be accomplishing their goal out here before they even knew it. Only good things to come, right? 

Gordon hopped along down the trail back in the direction of their camp with a warm and hopeful feeling blooming in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sleepy and didnt edit this too much so idk if the ending gets a little weirdly worded or not. either way!! only good things to come :)  
> (joshua evolving wasn't in da original version of this but i was hit with sudden inspiration for it a few days ago and Had to put it in here. lucario boy!)


	10. don't go breaking my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that smiley at the end of the last chapter was evil just so you know.  
> anyway! CW for violence, breaking bones (fingers) and betrayal this chapter :)

Tommy and Forzen were already up and moving around when he and Benrey popped back into the clearing. Forzen glanced back up at him and Benrey both with his usual squinted stare before quickly doing a double-take upon seeing Joshua. The ranger’s face split into a rare smile as he rose from his spot taking down his and Tommy’s tent. 

“He’s evolved now!” 

Gordon laughed as Joshua darted forward, seemingly as eager to show off his new form as Gordon was, “Yeah! Benrey and I encountered a mightyena group and Joshy fought em’ off with Benrey’s Pokémon!” 

Tommy looked up as well with a bright grin, “I- I’m happy he trusted you enough to evolve Mr. Freeman!” 

Gordon beckoned Joshua back over with his hand as he glanced over to Tommy, “Yeah! I was really surprised to be honest but,” he paused to pat the top of Joshua’s head once more before putting him back into his Pokéball, “I’m glad.” 

Popping fully upright, Tommy trotted over, Gordon’s prosthetic held in his hands, “Since you guys had already left when we woke up I figured I’d charge this for you.” 

Grinning, Gordon clapped his hand onto Tommy's shoulder once as he fitted his prosthetic back to his stump, “I really appreciate it man, thanks.” 

Smiling warmly, Tommy nodded his head, “Of course! I’m happy to help.” 

As he and Benrey quickly set to pulling out their own belongings out and taking down the tent they’d been staying in, Gordon let his mind wander a bit in the easy motions. The forest didn’t get much brighter around them as the sun rose higher above them with how close together the trees were growing, but he did appreciate what little light they did get. As Benrey shifted into a sun dappled patch of the clearing for a fleeting moment, Gordon noticed how their face lit up in the light. 

They were still unusually pale with dark rings under their eyes, but- with the sun ghosting over their features it made them seem softer almost. Gordon’s eyes caught the sharp jets of hair poking out from beneath their beanie, slipping into the light at just the right angle. Their brows were furrowed slightly in deep concentration, focused on uprooting one of the tent stakes from the ground. His eyes were squinted ever so slightly as he tilted his head back just enough to catch Gordon’s staring. 

Benrey locked eyes with Gordon for a fleeting second, the sun lighting up their sharp gaze, turning their usually dark eyes to a brilliant blue just for a moment. And Gordon felt his breath leave his lungs at the sight of them. Forcing his head back down, he tried to hide the sudden flush over his features. And thankfully, Benrey continued without a comment, content to proceed in a comfortable silence as they took down the rest of their tent. 

Or at least it _was_ silence till Tommy was shouting in surprise making everyone immediately look up in the Champions direction. Gordon immediately jerked fully upright, scanning Tommy over to make sure he was okay, then following his line of sight to see what’d shocked him and- 

Holy _fuck_. 

Gordon felt his jaw drop as he blinked at the thing that’d startled Tommy, the fucking Champion into shouting. 

_Mew_. 

Yeah, that’d do it. 

The pink little Pokémon was floating mid-air not two feet from Tommy, its thin little tail whisking around in the air behind it as it studied him. Its wide blue eyes blinked once before it finally drew back, chirping pleasantly as it turned onto its back to drift through the air languidly. It’s back paws kicking every once in a while as if it were swimming. 

“Holy shit.” 

Forzen looked a second away from echoing his sentiment before a net abruptly launched through the air; just narrowly missing Tommy’s shoulder, and snagging mew in one swift motion, effectively pinning the Pokémon to the ground. 

Gordon near instantly whirled around to see where the net had come from, his eyes widening at the three figures on some hovering objects. One had a hefty tube-shaped object slung off their shoulder and the other two were holding a good amount of braided rope. 

The woman with the heavy cylinder dropped it to her side, a grin encompassing her narrow features as their pointed gaze flicked from mew, still struggling in the netting, to Benrey, “I didn’t think you’d make it so easy boss!” 

Whipping his head in their direction, he watched Benrey with wide eyes. And he- Benrey only _stood_ there, his eyes locked onto the people on the flying things with a sharp and unreadable gaze. 

The lady in lead of the trio laughed, tilting her head back as she did so, “Don’t give me that look! You knew what we were after and you lead us right to mew! It’s all very convenient isn’t it?” 

“Benrey, you didn’t, _right_? You- you wouldn’t do this?” 

They didn’t respond, their gaze finally flicking to the ground as their fists tightened at their sides. 

Finally though, _someone_ broke into action, taking advantage of Benrey’s charged silence to actually do something; the someone being Tommy, immediately lunging for the net on the ground. only to have woman lift the metal piping again and fire another net out at him as well. 

Forzen blinked out of his trance, his glare darting from the woman still perched on the floating object and to Tommy, now struggling on the ground. His jaw jutted forward as he lifted his hands in submission, and Gordon might have thought he was giving up entirely till he let out a piercing whistle that costed him getting caught up in a net as well. 

Gordon looked desperately back to Benrey, shakily placing his hand down onto their shoulder, “Dude- you- you have to help me alright- _please_ tell me you didn’t do this. This is all- it’s a misunderstanding- you _wouldn’t_ lead anybody right to mew, would you?” 

Shaking off Gordon’s grip Benrey squeezed his eyes shut, “I didn’t do it on _purpose_ bro- mew wasn’t even supposed to _be_ here!” 

Gordon felt the blood drain from his face as he leaned away from Benrey, “So… You _did_ do this? Knowingly?” 

“Of course, they did!” The woman jeered, leaning over slightly on her hovering device, “We’ve been following them you know, and Benrey even _saw_ us a few times and _still_ let us carry on!” 

“Mew wasn’t even supposed to be here!” Benrey reiterated, throwing Gordon a desperate glance, “This was- it was just supposed to be some trip man, you have to _believe_ me.” 

Gordon shook his head as he took a step back, “No you- you were fucking _planning_ this weren’t you? Maybe you didn’t know mew was going to be here but _still_ , just in case it was you had yourself followed. So you can, what- fucking _capture_ mew? All the- the shit you harassed me about, I should have _known_ this all was just going to be some fucking _game_ to you.” 

Benrey’s face fell as Gordon’s words sunk in, anguish pulling at their features as they tried to take another step forward, only for Gordon to move back again. Their mouth opened to say something, probably trying to deny the obvious and give the woman a good chance to fire the net at him when the trees on the other side of the clearing exploded with movement. 

The noivern from before erupted through the foliage from behind them with an earsplitting cry, the horde of noibat following it filling the surrounding air one more with the sound of their furiously flapping wings. 

Gordon flinched back as the noivern darted through the air between him and Benrey, sending the woman spinning back through the air as she moved to avoid the oncoming Pokémon. Faintly, Gordon could hear Forzen shouting over the deafening clamor from the bat Pokémon as he blindly reached for a Pokéball at his side. Amidst his foundering over the sudden explosion of Pokémon, Gordon felt a hand wrap around his good wrist. 

Jerking back with a shout, Gordon glared to Benrey who was staring at him with wide, despairing eyes, “I swear bro I didn’t do this!” he called out, hunching his slightly as a passing noibat flapped around his head, “I wouldn’t do this on purpose!” 

Yanking his arm out of Benrey’s grip, Gordon lip curled into a snarl as he stumbled away, “I don’t _care_ , you fucking did this to everyone! This is still your _fault_!” 

“Bro you have to _understand_ ,” Benrey pleaded, his voice wobbling dangerously, “I didn’t think mew was going to be here I’ll-” 

A stray dragon pulse forced them apart, a quick reminder that they were in the middle of a battle. Quickly fishing a Pokéball out of his backpack, Gordon let his Pokémon free, barely paying any attention to who he let out and set them off with a command to go set mew free. Turning around, Gordon glared through the swarm of noibat, his eyes landing on Forzen’s prone form still on the ground. Charging through the fray, he worked his way over to the ranger and crouched down next to his side, immediately working at removing the netting from him. 

Most of the material was made of a fairly flexible steel so it became quickly apparent he couldn’t just rip the material away, so Gordon searched over the mesh for where it began, his mind slipping to a hazy fervor of nerves and hurt. Because Benrey had fucking betrayed them. He’d deliberately lead those fucking people _right_ to mew and- and Gordon wouldn’t forgive him for it. He couldn’t forgive him for it. Despite how badly he wanted to. Seeing that harrowed expression over his forlorn features. He’d still tricked him. All the fucking shit he’d been saying and doing- just to get Gordon to _trust_ him. 

With a hardening resolve to cover his turmoil, Gordon pried open the snare with a grunt. He ignored how the sharp edges dug into his palms as he held the net open so Forzen could scramble out in favor for glancing around for mew and Tommy. 

He saw his zangoose, Angel, leaping for one of the floating objects with a furious expression, and with another quick glance back to where mew had been caught- _fuck_ yes, she’d managed to free mew in time. The net that’d originally caught it sat empty on the ground. But he couldn’t see Tommy anywhere. 

As soon as Forzen had kicked off the last of the net, Gordon was back on his feet, frantically glancing around for Tommy because just _maybe_ he’d managed to free himself- 

Gordon felt the rest of whatever last shred of hope he’d been clinging to slip from his grasp as his eyes locked onto the Champions limp body, right in the clutches of the first woman. He felt his vision shrinking down to a slim tunnel as he ran blindly ahead, oblivious to the noibat he was knocking into as he ran. 

She was in the middle of sneering something at Benrey, so she didn’t see his approach, but she sure fucking noticed when he leapt up onto the side of her floating thing. Clinging onto the edge by the tips of his fingers, he overbalanced it down just enough that it sent the woman careening to his side, hitting the guardrail with a painful sounding clang. Gordon couldn’t bring himself to care though as he grabbed onto her ankle, trying vainly to pull her back to the ground. She seemed to quickly regain her balance though, righting herself back at the main panel and jerking the craft upward with a sharp tug. 

Yelping as he slipped back, Gordon held onto the metal lip of the floating thing, the rest of his body hanging perilously off the edge. The woman grinned down at him, re-adjusting her grip on Tommy as she spun the craft in a quick circle that had his grip loosening. Gordon squeezed his eyes shut against the whipping air and forced himself to keep holding on; it probably wasn’t too far of a distance to the ground, but with as fast as they were going, he was more likely to get whipped off into a trunk of a tree and probably impale himself. 

A bolt of pain flashed through his knuckles as the woman brought her foot down onto his good hand, grinding her heel into the joints of his fingers. Gordon gasped, tears springing to his eyes as he was forced to let go, and as predicted, his body went flying from the craft. He spun out and away from the craft, the air in his lungs being forced out in one swift motion as he crashed to the ground. His backpack cushioned most of the fall for him but something he’d packed away in it jabbed into his back upon impact. 

His temples thudded with his heartbeat as he struggled to inhale, his mouth flapping open and closed uselessly for a few moments before _finally_ , with a heavy thump to his chest, he arched his back off the ground, greedily gulping in gasps of air. Tilting his head to the side, he squinted up to his zangoose, Angel, who’d apparently been the one to save him from asphyxiating. He wanted to reach out and scratch her head in thanks, but there was still a battle going on so he _had_ to keep moving. He couldn’t stop here. 

Waving Angel off, he sent her back in the direction of the main fray of the fight as he struggled to his feet. His vision darkened at the edges as he finally worked his way upright. Blinking furiously, he tried to take a step forward, only managing to trip over his own feet and fall to his knees. He reached one arm out to try and keep himself from falling any further, but as a fiery pain lanced up through the digits of his good hand he keeled back over with a groan, just barely keeping himself upright with the help of his prosthetic. 

His back ached from where his bag had dug into his spine and his ankle felt sore from the impact as well. More than one of his fingers felt broken and the rest were definitely going to be bruised to hell in an hour. It still hurt to breathe, nausea rolled through him in sickening waves and there was a fucking _rock_ digging into his knee from where he was slumped over on the ground. Gordon struggled to lift his head back upright as he glared out into the clearing again. The noivern was battling the two other people on the floating devices and Forzen looked caught up with the woman who still had her clutches on Tommy. He couldn’t see Benrey. 

Darkness swarmed his vision once more as he dropped his head back down, his hair falling loosely around his head as he held back the bile rising in his throat. Absently, he was aware of his prosthetic finally giving out under the weight of his injured body, his face falling against the cool dirt on the ground and the noise of the battle growing more distant as the lost consciousness. The last thing he was aware of before entirely blacking out was the far-off sound of Benrey’s voice shouting his name. 

. . . 

Pain was the first sensation to return to Gordon as he woke. Sharp flashes through his hand and a dull ache radiating out from his back and lower leg. The cold from the stone beneath him had seeped into his bones, chilling him from the inside out which he was _positive_ wasn’t a good thing. Suddenly, a breath puffed against his cheek, quickly followed by the cold nose of something nudging at him. 

Gordon batted the nose away with a grunt, his prosthetic clanging against the stone as he dropped his arm once more. Wait. Gordon blinked his eyes open to the familiar darkness of the forest. He had _not_ passed out with stone under him. Glancing around, he met the all too familiar red-ringed eyes of a Pokémon. 

Scurrying back on instinct, Gordon groaned at the spasm of pain that wracked his fingers and right ankle at the sudden pressure. Clutching his injured hand closer to his chest, Gordon carefully scooted away, pushing off with his good foot and watching Stong warily, quickly glancing around to see if her trainer was anywhere nearby. Coming up with nothing, Gordon finally looked back to Stong, taking in the way her ears were flopped over with concern, her glowing eyes watching him just as carefully. 

Letting out a silent breath, pretty sure she wasn’t about to leap at him in an attempt to take his other hand, Gordon let himself relax slightly. Stong was still Benrey’s Pokémon and they _had_ still betrayed him so it’d be best to keep his guard up, but for the moment she didn’t seem to mean him any harm. 

Looking around once more, Gordon confirmed that they were in fact alone. Lost in the forest with someone else’s Pokémon, injured, and with no idea which direction to start in to find his way out. 

Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> joshua evolving and da comfort moment was a DISTRACTION for this chappy  
> i have had this planned since the beginning of thinkin this fic out and it feels SO good to finally have it written now. *grinning but it's evil*


	11. taking damage!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyoooo would y'all believe that i wrote this chapter entirely at school? edited a little at ma house but. majority ov it was written at school instead o doin homework!  
> CW for this chapter, gordon got hurt last time so its him feeling the effects of those injuries. Also, instance of him wanting to like. remove his fingers so they don't hurt anymore. he has NO plan on actually doing that but like. it is there for a sentence.

The process of getting himself back to his feet was an uphill battle involving a lot of falling back down and furious, pained cursing. His ankle gave out more than once, and upon further inspection it looked pretty bad, it was puffed up to hell and extremely uncomfortable inside his boot, he didn’t have the time though to try and take care of it though, so he focused on getting his good foot under him as a stable base before carefully working himself upright. Two of his fingers were absolutely broken just from how they felt but he forced himself not to look down at them lest he pass out, because he was already close to it, but that might just send him over the edge. 

Stong whined softly somewhere off to his right, her paws scuffling against the packed dirt making Gordon toss her a wary glance. She… Did seem genuinely concerned. She had obviously been the one to haul him out here, from the drag marks moving through the scuffed earth. But she was still Benrey’s Pokémon, and he didn’t want to risk anything. It could be a ploy to get him away and- and do something? He wasn’t really sure what either of them would want from him. Benrey’d seemed awfully desperate to convince him that he hadn’t meant for this all to happen but it contradicted every other bit of information he’d been given up to this point so he was heavily inclined to believe it’d been some sort of ploy. It still didn’t explain why he wasn’t around though and had just left Stong here on her own. 

Shaking his head, Gordon carefully waved the lycanroc over, an action he’d probably regret, but he didn’t have the energy to shift his backpack off himself and try to get one of his own Pokémon out to help, so he’d take what he was given; even if it was the Pokémon of his now enemy. 

“Gordon’s ah- Gordon’s hurtin’,” He mumbled mostly to himself as Stong slowly padded over, “You uhm, you helped me get out here, which I’m real thankful for but, Gordon needs to get out so need- need some help please?” 

Stong waited at his right, straightening up slightly to butt her head against the palm of his prosthetic. And even though Gordon couldn’t feel textures through that arm he could imagine the coarse texture of her thick hair against his palm, involuntarily making him shiver. Gently though, he placed his hand onto the mane of fur on her head, leaning onto her slightly as he took a tentative step forward. Leading unsteadily with his left, he firmly planted his foot onto the ground and painfully pulled his right foot after him. Gritting his teeth against the agony pulsing through his foot, Gordon squeezed his eyes shut before forcing himself to take another step. Then another. 

Eventually, he worked himself into a steady, painful hobble. Stong kept up easily with him, not complaining if he stumbled and leaned a little too heavily onto her, or if his fingers dug in maybe too tight into her fur. He limped down the same track Stong had hauled his unconscious body through, looking for the telltale sign of broken plants and upturned bits of soil as markers where the trail got harder to read. He had still been a field researcher after all, he knew how to follow a track through the woods, that had been part of his _job_. It got progressively harder to see though as he continued, his vision blurring in and out from time to time forcing him and Stong to stop and wait till he could see properly again. 

Panting out short breaths, Gordon screwed his eyes shut as he tried to settle the throbbing in his head. This was _such_ bullshit. He trembled as a sickening wave of nausea rolled over him, almost forcing him to his knees. He couldn’t stifle the short whimper that worked past his lips as he swallowed the bile in his throat down. Working his eyes back open as if it were some monumental task, he waited till the nausea passed to keep moving. 

And slowly, he progressed through the trees. Stong seemed to have dragged him a good ways away from the clearing where they’d been before but fucking _finally_ he was back in it. The trap that mew had been freed from was no longer on the ground and so was everyone else. Burn marks scoured the ground and a few of the nearby trees, remnants from the battle. And he didn’t remember what way they’d came in from. 

A helpless sob built in Gordons chest as he finally collapsed, falling onto his backside with a painful thud as tears spilled from his already puffy eyes. He let his lame leg lay flat against the ground as he curled his other knee up close to his chest so he could partially lean over and hide his face. _Fuck_ , he was going to be lost out here forever and he wouldn’t be able to get back to his _family_ and he’d probably die and never be _found_ \- 

Stong whined again, shuffling around his ankle to lean onto his leg and press her nose up and under his arm against his face. Gordon let out a raspy laugh as she licked at his face, probably an uncomfortable sensation since his bristles of a goatee had grown out a lot more since he’d set out on the expedition. Gordon scrunched his face up as she continued, only to finally pushing her away with a weary chuckle. 

Maybe it was the fuzziness of his exhaustion finally taking over, but Stong… She almost didn’t seem as frightening for a good few moments. She still looked concerned, but with her tongue hanging dopily out of her mouth, Gordon couldn’t bring himself to be afraid anymore. So tentatively, he lifted his prosthetic up and combed it through the fluffy blue fur on the side of her face. Stong seemed contemplative for a moment before her stubby tail began to wag, scuffing the ground beneath her as a small smile worked over Gordon’s features. 

All too soon though, there was a shuffling of the bushes on the other side of the clearing and Stong jerked back upright at the sound, her lips peeling back further in the beginnings of a snarl. Stong’s growling suddenly stopped though as a figure struggled into the clearing, his clothes were torn around his ankles and sleeves, but for the most part, he seemed alright. Forzen’s empoleon followed the ranger on in, the noivern and Gordon’s Pokémon Angel trailing after Tyson. 

Forzen spotted him and Stong on the ground and a look of relief immediately washed over his scarred features. Angel seemed to perk up at the sight of her trainer as well and barely giving a glance to Stong, rushed over toward Gordon, immediately flopping down next to him with a pleased expression. Idly scooting over to pet the top of his Pokémon’s head, Gordon watched Forzen quickly trot across the clearing toward him. The ranger only faltered mid-way as he seemed to notice his injuries along with Stong, but pushed on anyway, his face quickly scrunching into something akin to pity. 

His empoleon and the noivern seemed content to hang back for now, but Gordon put what little energy he had leftover into watching the bat Pokémon that had almost killed him. He was jerked back to attention by Forzen’s voice though. 

“-Saw Stong taking you while unconscious out of the clearing so I figured it’d’ave a lot longer to find you.” 

Gordon shrugged as the ranger sat down across from him, blinking as he tried to parse out a coherent sentence, “Woke up a while ago and walked here,” he mumbled, letting his forehead fall back onto his knee, “Ankles fucked, and some fingers are broken.” 

Forzen grimaced, “Yeah, I can see that. It- It’d probably be good to get you to a doctor of some sort.” 

Snorting Gordon waved his prosthetic around the clearing as he lifted his head abruptly back up, “Does it _look_ like there’s any doctor around here? We’re in the middle of the goddamn _woods_ man. And I’m so fucking tired right now.” 

Staring at him uncertainty Forzen’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Dude you- I think you might have a concussion?” 

Gordon blinked at him for a few long moments before frowning, “I mean _maybe_ ; it’s a possibility. But I still walked all the way here. That’s- that means I’m fine, right?” 

Forzen sighed, waving the noivern over with one hand, “No, that does not mean you’re in the clear. It probably made it worse if anything,” getting to his feet, Forzen put Tyson back into his Pokéball carefully maneuvered around Gordon, pausing to dig a Pokéball out of Gordon’s backpack and put Angel away despite his own complaints. Helping Gordon upright, they staggered over to the noivern and Forzen hefted him up onto the Pokémon’s back. Stong scrambled on after, and Forzen sat behind them. 

He said something Gordon couldn’t really hear and then they were flapping into the sky. Immediately forcing himself to suppress another bout of sickness, Gordon groaned, and squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden wind. If Forzen was saying anything to him now, he sure as hell couldn’t hear it over the whipping air and the queasiness rolling through him in steady waves. Distantly, he could tell time was passing as they flew, but since most of the trip was spent in a half-awake haze of discomfort for him, the next time he opened his eyes, he was leaning on something much more comfortable than the rocky ground of the forest or the rough back of the noivern. 

Gordon jerked upright, hissing at the abrupt pain that flashed through his head at the action. A gentile hand landed on his back as he leaned over, rubbing small comforting circles over his shirt. Squinting his eyes back open, he looked over to the person at his left. 

“Hello Gordon.” 

“Hey Dr. Coomer.” 

The professor smiled mutedly down at him, finally retracting his arm and placing it back in his lap from where he was sat on the chair next to his bed. Gordon turned his gaze down to his left land, two of his fingers wrapped in little metal splints; he could feel his heartbeat thudding through them now, but he wasn’t in nearly as much pain anymore, having receded to a distant ache. His ankle felt better as well but he hadn’t really had the chance to look at how bad it was before, so he had nothing to compare it to. 

“I- is Forzen still here?” 

Dr. Coomer nodded, his mouth forming into a tight-lipped smile, “He is still downstairs yes, he’s talking to Bubby right now I believe.” 

Gordon sighed, letting his eyes flutter shut for a moment, “And Stong?” 

“Just outside the room. Didn’t want to leave your side.,” Dr. Coomer fidgeted slightly in the self-imposed pause, “Darnold did say that one of the people you were going with had a lycanroc, so I assume its theirs?” 

“Yeah, she’s… She’s okay to come in if she wants. She won’t hurt anybody I don’t think,” he murmured quietly, tapping at his knee as he thought, “I’m… I’m glad to be back home I guess,” he said with a weak laugh. 

Dr. Coomer frowned his gaze flicking to his injured hand for a moment, “I just wish it could have been under better circumstances Gordon.” 

Gordon hummed absently as he let his mind wander, trying his hardest not to focus on the strange sensation of being able to feel his heart-beat in two places at once if he focused hard enough. Trying not to be unsettled by the feeling of his blood pulsing away under his skin making him practically want to sever the fingers right off because it was so goddamn _annoying_ and _unnerving_ and the sensation felt so overwhelming and it just made him want to cry again. 

“May I ask why you have someone else’s Pokémon with you? The ranger didn’t say much in explanation yet.” 

Gordon’s body tightened as he pictured Benrey’s face as they’d pleaded with him to just listen, “I… I think they sent Stong to follow me? I was on the verge of passing out as they did that but, yeah.” 

Dr. Coomer nodded, looking like he plainly wanted to ask something more, but resigned himself not knowing for the time being, lifting himself from the chair he quietly padded to the door, “Do you want me to let the ranger know you’re awake?” 

Gordon nodded, watching as the professor opened up the door to what he was just coming to realize was his room, and Stong went darting on in. The midnight lycanroc paused at the side of his bed for a moment, gazing up at him before deciding just to sit guard there, turning her attention to the doorway. 

In the pause, Gordon carefully shifted the blankets off of him and gingerly pulled his injured leg up closer to himself for inspection. It was still puffy looking, but the inflammation seemed to have calmed down some. Pressing down on it didn’t hurt too bad but it was definitely sensitive. 

Stong perked back up as Forzen carefully walked into his room, looking completely out of his element. The other man’s gaze quickly swept over his room before landing on him almost nervously. 

“You uh, want to talk I guess?” 

Gordon let out an annoyed sound as he motioned to the chair, “Yeah, like what the hell happened after I passed out? And where Benrey and Tommy went?” 

Making a distressed sort of face, Forzen cautiously sat himself in the chair cautiously like Gordon was going to reach out and throttle the answer out of him. Which he obviously wasn’t going to do but fuck if he didn’t wish he could get right down to the answer so Gordon could figure out what to do from here. 

“We- me and Benrey have known each other for a long time alright?” Forzen started hesitantly, twisting the styler on his wrist idly as he spoke, “Friends as kids and whatever, we uh, we formed sort of a group of friends that kind of grew over time? It uh- it didn’t go well, as you saw.” 

Gordon’s brows knitted together for a long moment as he tried to figure out what Forzen was even saying, “So… That lady-” 

“-Judith.” 

“Yeah, so, she was your guys’ friend?” 

Forzen made a so-so motion, “Not _really_? Benrey- they’re really uh… Driven. The group of friends expanded past just friends, becoming more of some club, I guess. Everybody kinda followed Benrey’s ideals of like… A ‘fight for what you want’ sort of thing. It outgrew him though and he left the group a few years back figuring it’d just sort of disband without him there.” 

“But it didn’t.” 

“No, it uh, it grew bigger. Bigger than them. I left the group before Benrey did to do this,” he gestured lamely to his ranger outfit before continuing, “And we had a sort of falling out over it. Haven’t seen each other till we set out on that whole shit-hole expedition.” 

Gordon rubbed his furrowed hands with the palm of his prosthetic, “So why was that Judith lady following him? And where’d they all _go_?” 

Forzen shrugged, “She- Judith took over after Benrey left I think. And was mad, probably is _still_ mad, so I- I’m guessing here okay man, she probably tried to convince them to come back and when it didn’t work just settled for watching from the sidelines until she got some opportunity.” 

“Opportunity for _what_ ,” Gordon hissed, throwing one hand up in exasperation, “So Benrey left and she followed him what was up with mew?” 

Glaring, Forzen jutted his jaw out as he shrugged in an over-exaggerated motion, “I don’t _know_ , I left all that shit as it was getting bad! I don’t know motivations or anything! But Tommy and Benrey _did_ still get taken by them and I’m not leaving either of them there.” 

“Fuck man, _where_ is there?” 

“Big- it’s in a big fucking warehouse a few towns over okay? Jeez’ dude you don’t even let me _finish_ what I’m saying. I do not know _how_ Benrey likes you.” 

Gordon paused, taken aback, “W- _what_?” 

Forzen arched an eyebrow at him, “You better not tell me you’re that oblivious bro. You’re a _scientist_ , aren’t you? Aren’t you supposed to be smart? He isn’t exactly secretive about it.” 

Glaring, Gordon huffed, and down to Stong, letting the new information stew around in his mind before finally looking back to the ranger, who looked significantly more relaxed now, albeit slightly pissed, but he didn’t look as nervous as he had upon walking in. 

A lot of what Forzen had said made sense, connecting it back to Benrey’s actions. He would still have to figure out why Benrey’s old group wanted to capture mew, and why Benrey had let them fucking _follow_ him, but… The other stuff made sense in a sad sort of way. Trying to leave to put everything that had happened behind them but still having it get drawn back up time and time again. And now he and Tommy were alone in some building being held prisoner and Gordon could only imagine what the both of them would be having to deal with. 

“So how do we get them back?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WEHOO we back w da fam! a little feature ov dr. coomer and more forzen + benrey lore!  
> gosh i made gordon SO mean to forzen but like. i feel like they wouldn't get along without outside facilitation so. they will stand each other. for now.  
> im actually not super happy w dis chapter but, ya know how it is. i might take a break to jus recuperate so i don't get burnout but we'll see lol


	12. panic for everyone! *handing it out in baskets*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for a little more hand trauma this chapter, but it's not really descriptive, plus heavy Gordon guilt moments  
> And after a little over a week, I'm back!! The break was really good for my writing brain, cuz im now getting back into the swing of things again; but I feel u can tell I struggled w this chapter a little bit. I jus hopped outta a little mental dip so might take me a chapter or so to get back into my regular posting schedule/ quality but!! hope y'all enjoy da chappy anyway.  
> (Also. i hav a bunch o extra info abt this fic this not gonna be mentioned in here but I am SO willing to talk abt it so. might make a separate final chapter ov this just to add all that information stored away in my brain somewhere u all can read it and compliment me for how smart i am because. need that rn man.)

It didn’t take long for Darnold to hurry over to their house after Dr. Coomer had called and jovially told him of Gordon’s possible concussion. Darnold was really the only one with a sliver of medical knowledge between the five of them and even then, he looked to be working from limited experience. Luckily though, he was able to determine that Gordon likely didn’t have a concussion, but he did have two confirmed broken fingers and a twisted ankle. Which wasn’t really surprising, but it did serve to make Gordon a little downtrodden. 

Darnold was currently in the middle of muttering something to himself while re-bandaging up his ankle because, according to him, somebody had done a really shitty job with it. His face was pulled tight in concentration as he flicked a glance back to Gordon, a hint of concern reflecting in his gaze for a quick moment before he looked back to what he was doing. 

“So, the guy just sent his Pokémon after you?” 

Gordon nodded, turning over to regard Stong for a moment, curled up right next to his nightstand with one paw drawn over her nose, “Yeah. He uh- I think he did it as I was in the middle of passing out. Stong kinda saved me though so I guess I’m glad for that at least.” 

Letting out a non-comital hum in response Darnold shrugged, “It could just be some sort of ploy. Get you to- to trust them again.” 

“See, that’s what I thought but Forzen, the ranger dude downstairs, he said that Benrey wasn’t a part of that anymore!” 

Darnold frowned as he pulled back from the now finished wrap, “How would he even know though? He left after the other guy, so how would he know that they’d _really_ left.” 

Gordon bit his lip as he let his head flop back onto the pillow behind him, “I don’t… That’s a good point. I still think he’s probably telling the truth though. I mean, he’s a ranger right, don’t they have some fucking- rules or something to help people? I’m pretty sure rescuing some people falls under that umbrella term.” 

“I’m not going to say your judgement is _wrong_ ,” Darnold said quickly, “Just… Be careful. Even if their Pokémon did still save you, I wouldn’t put your trust in them entirely.” 

Gordon fidgeted in place for a moment longer, “So can I go? Even if the dude’s motives are probably fucked, the people still took the Champion, and I don’t think the Coomer’s and Forzen can do it on their own.” 

Darnold huffed, a small grin pulling at his lips, “You don’t think an ex-league member, a destructive old man and a trained ranger can take on a team of thieves?” 

Shooting his friend a glare, Gordon carefully attempted to curl his leg back so he could at least try to get it hanging over the edge of the bed. He didn’t even get close though with how the injury immediately shot a jolt of pain directly up his leg at the slightest movement. 

Reclining back with a huff, Gordon curled his lip slightly as he glared down at his injured leg, “Bubby and Coomer don’t know the _meaning_ of the word stealth and I’m pretty sure Forzen isn’t even a fully registered ranger, so yes, they need my help.” 

“Well unless you can somehow manage to get yourself up from that bed in record time, _without_ falling over, I don’t see how you’re going to be much help.” 

“Come _on_ man, I can’t just sit here! They’re- Benrey and Tommy got taken to some fucking warehouse and you expect me to just- wait,” Gordon quickly glanced around his room, mostly oblivious to Darnold who looked reasonably shellshocked from the sudden one eighty in Gordon’s tone, “Where the fuck’s my backpack, I think Joshua can help me out here.” 

Darnold blinked incredulously at Gordon, “He- whatever, alright,” Getting up from the edge of the bed, he padded down to where Gordon’s backpack had been previously been hidden from view at the edge of the room and rifled through it, coming back a moment later with Gordon’s Pokéball loop. 

“I don’t think riolu can learn any healing moves,” Darnold said mildly as Gordon waved him back over with a hurried motion of his prosthetic. 

“No, he- Joshua evolved, look,” taking Joshua’s Pokéball into his hands, Gordon released Joshua in the space off to the left of his bed. Stong lifted her head slowly from where she’d been sleeping on the floor but quickly seemed to decide that whatever was going on didn’t concern her and promptly dropped her head back down to go to sleep, “Hey Joshy, you- you can learn heal pulse, right? Can you do that?” 

Joshua blinked at him for a moment before nodding once. He leaned over toward Gordon, sniffing a few times at his injured hand before gingerly taking it into his cupped paws. Gordon bit his lip at the immediate sting of pain, but the feeling lessened as a pink-ish yellow glow began to emanate from between his Pokémon’s closed paws. Gordon gritted his teeth at the sensation of his bones grinding together to shift back into place, but being unable to see what was really happening did help some. It didn’t stop him from looking away from Joshuas clasped paws though. As the glow died down, Joshua pulled his paws back so Gordon could inspect the damage. And per the nature of the move, his fingers didn’t seem to be _entirely_ healed, but it was definitely enough for him to get by with. As Gordon showed his injured ankle to Joshua as well, he noticed Darnold’s surprised face from the edge of his vision. 

“I didn’t think just a few days of being gone would have gotten him to trust you enough to evolve,” he said with a skeptical grin, “You sure you didn’t find somebody else’s lucario out there?” 

“He really did it all on his own,” Gordon said lightly, now able to put together a coherent sentence without having to think through a thick haze of nagging pain, “But yeah, his evolution surprised me too.” 

As Joshua finished up with his ankle, Gordon gave him a quick pet on the head before swinging both his legs over the edge of the bed. Carefully getting to his feet, Gordon took a few experimental steps toward the door, and finding nearly no complaints from his left leg, he turned back to face Darnold, “So how about now?” 

Palming his face in exasperation, Darnold threw his hands up in the air, “Fine, whatever, put stress on what was just some broken fingers and a sprained ankle like, ten seconds ago. Because if that stuff regresses, which it probably will if you go overboard, like usual, it is _not_ my fault.” 

“That’s an okay, right.” 

“Sure, whatever,” Shaking his head, Darnold lifted himself from the edge of Gordon’s bed, “We still need a game-plan for what we’re all going to do though.” 

Gordon let a grin slowly creep its way up onto his strained features, “I think I’ve got something.” 

. . . 

And, as it turned out, his _something_ tuned out to be an acceptable plan to everyone! Bubby and Forzen seemed surprised to see him back on his feet as soon as he was without any further explanation, but Coomer took it in stride as usual and instead guided everyone back around to what they were going to be doing to rescue Tommy and Benrey. 

Since Forzen was the one with the greatest range of knowledge about where the two were supposedly being held, he’d be guiding Coomer and Bubby there to scope out the area and hopefully get a read on where the two were inside the building. While he and Darnold, the most diplomatic of their group, would be heading to the Elite Four’s building to hopefully rope Tommy’s dad into helping them in the rescue and hopeful disbanding of the group of criminals as well. Gordon would have preferred to have been on the team of ‘let's rescue the regions idol and possibly the leader of the bad guy team’. But as Darold _so_ helpfully pointed out, it’d probably put less strain on his injuries if Gordon went with him to contact Gman. Plus, it’d help to have someone who’d actually _been_ there while the whole fight went to explain the situation. 

Nobody really seemed to know what Gman actually did or was like outside of being the referee for the Champions televised matches, but Gordon had high hopes that he’d help. Tommy _was_ the dude’s son after all. Gordon had a feeling finding him would be a whole different challenge though; outside of the few clips of him that Gordon had seen on TV, he seemed to be a pretty elusive guy and had managed to avoid the media for the most part. From the one interview Gordon had managed to see in passing though, he seemed to be a cold and distant sort of person. The exact opposite of how Tommy acted. Which, to be honest, wasn’t too irregular for a family, but the contrast in his mind was still jarring. 

Gordon blinked back to attention as the noivern Forzen had caught earlier chirring sound right in his face. 

“Did you get that?” 

Looking quickly over to the ranger, Gordon nodded, despite having absolutely not caught whatever he’d been saying, “Yep, totally.” 

Forzen watched him apprehensively for a few moments longer before finally letting out a sharp breath through his nose, “Just- just find Gman and get him to help. It’ll make this all a million times easier if he can help with this. Good luck.” 

As Gordon returned the sentiment, he glanced over to Darnold, who’d been watching him with an arched eyebrow, “You sure you got that?” 

Scowling, Gordon looked back to the noivern, who’d taken a sudden interest in inspecting Stong, seated nearby on the front lawn, “My thoughts are occupied okay! We’ve just got to get to Gman and have him help, that was the main gist of it.” 

“The main gist of it, was explaining how the noivern is still a _wild_ Pokémon, but sure. We’ve just got to keep a close eye on it and make sure it doesn’t fly off on us while we’re trying to find the guy.” 

“Close enough,” Gordon said dismissively, much to Darnold's offense if the huff he let out was anything to go by, as he trotted closer to the noivern. He watched as the draconic Pokémon glanced back to him and rose to its full height. Pausing for a moment, the noivern stared him down with a narrowed gaze before finally letting out some noise that Gordon decided to interpret as approval and sunk down so he could clamber onto it’s back. Darnold and Stong followed him on, and at Gordon’s okay, the Pokémon flapped up into the sky, seemingly already knowing where to go. 

Glaring against the wind, Gordon tapped his fingers against the noivern’s scaled back. Hopefully Gman would just be in the building waiting for Tommy or something so they wouldn’t have to go on a wild hunt for the guy. The more time they spent actually having to search around meant the more time Benrey and Tommy would be having to spend, probably locked away. 

The sudden image of Benrey curled in on himself as he’d just awoken from his dream from earlier in the day flashed across Gordon’s mind and he felt his hands still for a moment. Benrey hadn’t wanted to be alone. And he- now he was probably locked away in some dark room by himself and he probably could have saved himself had he had Stong help him get away, but he’d still sent her after _him_. 

Gordon swallowed against the sudden sour feeling in his throat as he scoured the ground passing beneath him with narrowed eyes. He’d… He’d told himself he wasn’t going to forgive Benrey for leading the people right to mew, which in a way, he still hadn’t. They would definitely have some explaining to do for that, but they’d _saved_ him, even after he’d basically told him to fuck off and that he didn’t care about them. 

_Fuck_. They’d both have some explaining to do Gordon guessed. 

They still needed to get to Gman to have him help with the rescue though. Which, arceus help Gman if he didn’t decide to come along because Gordon was on the cusp of taking him kicking and yelling if it meant he could get to Benrey quicker to tell them that he did care and didn’t even blame them really for what had happened. 

With his resolution settling like a stone in his heart, Gordon’s eyes locked onto the distant form of the Elite Four’s building, a mountainous landmark in the middle of a busy city. Decorated with four colored outer domes and a gleaming fifth right in the middle, Gordon angled the noivern down toward the building. He’d been here a few times in the past, back when Dr. Coomer had been one of the Elite Four himself before becoming a professor like Bubby, but the previous dome that had once been Dr. Coomer’s had been visibly re-worked since then. The bright green and brown stained glass on the top of his fighting dome had been replaced with an orangish brown color with hints of pale blue intermixed. Another fighting type trainer had taken his place there, and Gordon was just on the cusp of remembering their name before he realized they were quickly approaching the ground. 

As the noivern landed in the plaza just outside the building, Gordon hopped off the side of the Pokémon, already starting toward the main doors. Luckily, the wild noivern didn’t seem intent on leaving and followed their group inside. The receptionist behind the main blinked at them in surprise, eying both of the Pokémon before looking to him and Darnold, “We- we aren’t taking any challenges for the time being as the Champion is currently unavailable right now-” 

Gordon shook his head and trotted closer, “We’re not here for a challenge. Actually- is Gman in the building? The referee for the Champions matches. We need to talk to him.” 

The receptionist gave him a curious stare, but nodded anyway, pulling the corded phone from its receiver on the desk and punching in a number. Gordon turned away as the woman began talking, looking back to Darnold and the array of two Pokémon, which neither of them actually owned, abruptly making Gordon glad that the building didn’t have a no-Pokémon policy. It wouldn’t make any sense for them to anyway, being the building where people strictly went to _battle_ , but Gordon had seen stranger rules before, so he was allowed to be relieved by the invisible cosmic gift. 

Darnold was in the middle of absently investigating the large posters on the far wall featuring the members of the Elite Four. One of Tommy with Sunkist out of her Pokéball and circled around him almost protectively was centered in the middle of the others. A twinge of guilt flashed through Gordon as he forced his gaze away from the gleaming poster. Because maybe if he’d tried hard enough, if he’d ran to Tommy first instead of Forzen, if he’d held on a little longer despite his broken fingers, if he’d managed to stay conscious, maybe Tommy wouldn’t have been taken away. 

And by extension, Benrey. 

What he’d said to them sat like a heavy weight in the bottom of his gut, burning like a coal and sparking up every time the image of them pleading with him, just asking him to _listen_ flashed across the forefront of his mind. What if he’d just taken the time to let them explain, and then they could be taking down the group Benrey had started by accident, _together_. But instead, because of his inability to let go and actually hear someone out for once, he was here, trying to plead with the Champions Dad, while Benrey and Tommy were probably locked away somewhere they couldn’t get to. And maybe the bridge between them all was getting larger by the minute, and they’d already moved Benrey and Tommy to a separate location, or maybe Benrey wouldn’t even want to _see_ Gordon again even if they _did_ manage to find them- 

The click of the receptionist setting the phone back down into the receiver jerked Gordon from his spiraling thoughts. 

“Gman is waiting in his office for you both.” 

And so, with a nervous glance to Darnold, they both set across the lobby, headed for the topmost floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WEHOO!! finally get to put that gman tag to use!! he will be here, just next time.  
> Honestly doe, feel like this chapter is a Little dull? but i had to get it out ov da way without thinking it over any longer or id prolly explode lol.  
> Also!!! Darnold being the only one with SLIGHT medical knowledge being forced to try and put gordon in some sort of working ankle cast and finger splint: guys you understand I work with chemicals right, this is NOT my area of expertise...  
> Also also. don't y'all love how I avoid writing the pepaws and instead giv y'all lore abt them instead *twirls my hair*


	13. rude moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wahoo!! another week passes and here's another chapter Finally! i really struggled w writing this one but i do think it came out alright. i am TIRED tho ov not writing da fun action scenes so im glad thas gon be coming back next chappy lol.  
> anyway!! gordon get a lil overwhelmed dis chapter but. y'all saw it coming anyway

The ride up the elevator would have been tense on its own, but cramming in a large, wriggly noivern and lycanroc didn’t help the process any. As the noivern butted its head against the elevator doors for what must have been the hundredth time on their ride up to the top of the building, Gordon finally grabbed onto its tail that’d been swinging from side to side. The noivern tossed an abrupt glare back at him, yanking it’s tail out of his grip with a quick tug, but it did relent from beating at the elevator doors, settling back down onto its haunches next to him with a throaty grumble. 

Darnold had kneeled down at some point to occupy Stong, probably to keep her from following suit in the bad behavior. But at the moment, she didn’t seem keen on doing much more than letting Darnold pet her. Her foot kicked out idly from her spot seated on the ground as Darnold scratched behind one of her ears, bushy tail wagging furiously. 

Gordon glanced back up to the floor numbers, slowly increasing as they moved up the elevator shaft. It almost felt like a trip _designed_ to take as much time as possible, which may have been more relieving if Gordon had been here for an actual match instead, giving him extra time to strategize. But instead, he was here to _try_ and get one of the most powerful people in the region to help with their rescue mission. 

It wasn’t like he had any way to speed their ascent up though, so the most he could do for the time being was sulk in a relative silence. Or it _would_ have been silence if the elevator didn’t abruptly screech to a halt in the middle of the shaft. Gordon groaned as he glared at the still closed doors of the elevator and a pleasant, mechanical voice came through the intercom telling them to remain calm and help would be on its way. 

Darnold got to his feet with a wide-eyed look, “I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.” 

“No shit! We don’t have the fucking time for this man!” 

The noivern seemed to agree, its tail whisking back and forth again as it shuffled toward the front of the elevator again. Wrenching its front claws into the sliver of an opening in the elevator doors, it let out a growl as it arched back and attempted to pry the doors open. And ever so slowly, inch by inch, the doors opened with the sound of grating metal that had Gordon clasping his hands over his ears with a grimace. And, with a final growl, the noivern wrested the doors open, making the walls shake with the force of them being forced back. Glancing back over it’s shoulder the noivern chirped pleasantly at them both, its eyes sparkling with pride. 

“That’s sure one way to do it.” 

Abruptly, the floor lurched beneath them as they began rapidly ascending up the elevator shaft. The noivern, in its hurry to stumble back from the now open wide elevator doors, slammed into Gordon’s front and sent him careening back against the guardrail along the side of the elevator walls. Sucking in a hiss through his gritted teeth, Gordon grabbed ahold of the railing with a steely grip, watching from the edge of his vision as Darnold did the same. Sinking down to the floor so when the elevator stopped, he wouldn’t get thrown upward, Gordon kept a strong hold on the bar as they ascended. Dim emergency lights flashed past the gaping hole in the front of the elevator as they steadily rose upwards making Gordon’s head start to ache. 

It was only when Gordon noticed through squinted eyes the vaguely purple-ish light around the outside of the elevator did they finally jerk to a stop, still sending him sprawling forward despite the precautions he’d took. 

Clambering back to his feet with a grumble, Gordon peered out into the floor they seemed to have stopped on. It looked to be a sprawling sort of office, an unused looking lounge on one side and a clean looking workspace on the other. The thing, or person rather, that first caught his attention though, was the cold looking man standing just outside the open elevator doors, an alakazam out at his side, its arm outstretched in their direction and a hazy glow surrounding the Pokémon. 

“Ah… Dr. Freeman and… Dr. Pepper, yes?” 

Glancing back to make sure Darnold was alright, Gordon looked back to the person who he was now recognizing to be Gman, “Yeah, that’s us. Sorry we uh, broke your elevator I guess.” 

Gman’s gaze flicked to the wide-open doors for an indeterminable moment before looking back to him, “The cost of the doors… Is a trivial matter, to me. What _is_ of concern, is the lack of my… Protégé in your party. Him that, Benrey, character and you all went out to the forest with that ranger, yes?” 

“That’s what we’re here to talk to you about Mr. uhm…” Darnold paused as he righted himself as well. 

“Coolatta,” Gman finished neutrally. 

“Yes, about that, you know Tommy was out there searching for proof of mew, right?” 

“I do make a point to know of my sons’ whereabouts and endeavors, Dr. Freeman,” he said, angling his head back slightly, “So yes, I know why he was there, and why he took you with him as well.” 

Gordons mouth twisted to a slight grimace as he looked Gman over, from the sharp suit, to the dark dress-shoes and his cold eyes. He bore a stark difference from Gordon’s own birth father, but the cold, condescending tone was the same, making his back straighten and his fists clench preemptively. Stong made a soft sound from somewhere behind him, grounding him for a long enough moment to piece himself back together. Drawing in a sharp breath, Gordon let the anger fizzling in the back of his mind even out before he continued. 

“Then you know your son was abducted then?” 

A look of shock flashed over Gman’s lined features before quickly hardening into something like anger, “If this is a threat to me and my son, I will have you know _Dr_. _Freeman_ -” 

“No, no, no, no, it’s- it’s uhm nothing like that Mr. Coolatta,” Darnold hastily interjected, resting a quick hand on Gordon’s shoulder as he took a step forward, “I wasn’t there but it uh- it was a different group of people. We came here in the hopes that you’d help to rescue him. And uh, Benrey as well.” 

Blinking, Gman took a moment to digest the information. When he finally looked back to Gordon, the enmity in his eyes had tempered slightly, but hadn’t outright disappeared, “And… You know where they have both been taken to.” 

“Not exactly, Forzen, the ranger, he does. He said they’re in a warehouse out by the Pokémon lab.” 

“Is the building visible… From the air?” 

“I mean, probably,” Gordon said, more exasperated than anything, “It’s a warehouse after all, it’s not like it’d be hidden from sight or anything-” 

Gordon clamped his mouth shut as Gman turned on his heel, waving to his alakazam as he turned. The Pokémon nodded, sending their group a final look before walking after Gman, raising its arms in a sweeping motion that had a pane of glass on the far side of the room sliding downward to open air. Gman sent the alakazam back into its Pokéball before pulling another from out of nowhere. 

Gman released a hydreigon into the space just between the window and himself, glancing back over his shoulder once as he stalked toward the large Pokémon, “I am off to find my son. It would be… Most favorable if you both, hurried along as well,” Turning his back to them, Gman slid upon the back of his Pokémon, not casting them another glance as the hydreigon lifted off into the sky with a few beats of its slender wings. 

Watching the now vacant space of where Gman had once stood, Gordon clenched his good hand into a fist, carefully turning around, fully prepared to hop onto the noivern again and follow Gman out. But the sudden presence of Darnold wrapping him into a full-body hug was enough to give him pause. Only for a moment though. 

“Dude, we have to get going,” he mumbled, pushing him back with a light hand against Darnold’s chest, “Can’t- don’t want to leave everybody _waiting_.” 

“Gordon, we can pause to take a breather for a minute-” 

“No, we fucking _can’t_!” Gordon shouted, taking a step back, “You heard the dude, we’re obviously _holding everyone back_! So we need to get a fucking move on! I don’t think I can stand to be in a room with that guy ever again after he said all the bullshit he did but we’re wasting our fucking time here! I could have been out there, already trying to find Tommy and Benrey, but we had to take this fucking side quest for that piece of shit, and they could be long gone and I’m still _here_ -” 

“Okay, you can cut that shit out _right_ fucking now, alright?” Gordon blinked away a sudden haze of tears from his eyes as he looked back to Darnold in surprise. 

“We came here to get that fuckhead on our side, sure! He wasn’t very nice at all, but we got the shit done! He’s on his way to the warehouse to help everybody else, so we have plenty of time to take a breather. You’re going to be no help to anybody if you go in there in the state you’re in right now as a- a fucking powder keg of bullshit so just,” pausing, to gesture around the office, Darnold heaved a sigh “Take- take a seat and get to chilling the fuck out, okay?” 

Swallowing thickly, Gordon nodded, dropping onto the floor where he stood to just… Take a breather like Darnold had said. Wiping away the tears that’d been forming in his eyes with a careless motion, he let out a hollow laugh as he dropped to his back, sprawled out on the cold, wooden flooring. He let his eyes slide shut as he heard Darnold take a seat somewhere down across from him, grumbling something about his back as he shuffled in place for a minute. Gordon picked up the sound of Stong and the noivern, probably causing some sort of trouble on the other side of the room, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care at the moment. The whole fucking building could have burnt down around him, and he probably wouldn’t have moved from the spot. 

Eventually though, the seemingly permanent chill of the floor started to bother his still-injured ankle, so he finally rolled back upright, “Sorry for uh, blowing up on you.” 

Darnold only hummed something dismissive in response, “You feel better now?” 

“Not really? I still might burst into tears later but- but I won’t right now anymore so that’s a positive I guess.” 

“That’s… Not what I was going for, but we can make do,” Darnold paused to glance over to Stong and the noivern rifling through the various drawers of Gman’s desk before glancing back to him, “What… What got you all wound up?” 

Gordon scowled, drawing his legs up to his chest to rest his chin on a knee, “Maybe just the idea that the Champion and- and a guy are trapped in some stupid building and who knows what the people who took them want with either of them. They already went to the extent of trying to fucking _snare_ mew. The _ancestor_ of all Pokémon.” 

Darnold arched an eyebrow at him, “Are you sure it had nothing to do with the fact Gman was acting like a huge ass the whole time?” 

Frowning, Gordon turned his gaze away to the far side of the room, “I mean, kind of. He uh, struck a wrong chord with me I guess. Got that gut instinct reaction going. He uh…” Shaking his head, he glanced back to Darnold, “Yeah, wasn’t a big fan of him.” 

Quirking his lips downwards, Darnold finally shrugged, “Well as- as long as he’s just there to help everybody I don’t think he should be much of a problem. He did seem pretty concerned about the Champion so you shouldn’t have to interact with him too much.” 

“Oh fuck off,” Gordon said over a resigned sigh, “It’s going to be whatever, we…. We’ve just gotta get out there and get it over with.” 

“Do you think you’re ready to head out or do you want to wait a bit longer?” 

Huffing, Gordon rolled back to his feet, extending one hand to help Darnold up as well, “We can go. I don’t really trust that guy to be around Bubby or Coomer.” 

“You’re saying that like they wouldn’t blow him out of the water on sight.” 

“I don’t fucking know man! I mean, they probably would if they talked to him but who knows at this point. I just want all this bullshit to be over so I can apologize and maybe get a good, twenty-four-hour nap in because I feel like I absolutely need it.” 

“And you only have to search a warehouse to do it!” 

Gordon waved the noivern, currently demolishing what had probably once been a perfectly useful stapler, over with one hand, “A warehouse probably full of people to fight, rooms to search, and probably fucking… Puzzles to solve or some other meaningless shit.” 

As he, Darnold and Stong situated themselves atop the noivern once more, Gordon turned back to look to his friend over his shoulder, “Thanks for the uh, mini-break, I guess. I think needed it.” 

Darnold nodded, the familiar hesitant look still present on his face, “Course’ now off to uh, off to rescuing.” 

Letting out an amused snort, Gordon turned back around, nudging the noivern’s side with the heel of his shoe to get it to take off. As the Pokémon jumped through the hole in the glass, Gordon felt his stomach lurch into his throat at the sudden drop. Because apparently, they hadn’t accounted for the noivern not being able to cope with the drop either. Flapping into the air from the ground was one thing, but being unprepared for flying from an already high place? It wasn’t a good deal at all, and from the sounds of it, it wasn’t just him who was freaking out over it either. Stong let out a high whine as the noivern struggled to right itself and Gordon could practically feel the dread swimming around Darnold from behind him. Not to mention the scream that was building in his own throat as the ground steadily became clearer beneath them all. 

Floors whisked by them as they free-fell, the noivern battering its wings against the air as it grappled with the sudden decline. Slowly though, they managed to even out, the noivern steadily gaining height again instead of dropping any further. And finally, Gordon was able to take in a shaky breath, leaning forward to knock his head against the back of the large Pokémon’s neck, “Holy shit.” 

The noivern chirred something that Gordon decided to interpret as apologetic for the sake of his well-being as it rose higher in the air. When he was finally able to lift his head again, they’d gained enough height to where he couldn’t see the ground anymore, but it still didn’t do much to ease his still racing heart. And he knew for a fucking _fact_ after this all was over, he was probably going to be allied with Bubby in the ‘afraid of heights’ club. 

But for now, they still had a job to do, so Gordon carefully took in a calming breath, and tried to work out a plan of action in his head as they flew closer toward their goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can u all tell i don't like gman lol. idk, there is sum abt whenever i write him that it triggers my like. immediate need to bash on authority figures. hes a good dad to tommy still! i just. do not like him vry much.  
> also. me reiterating that darnold and gordon friendship is REAL and a concept i love very much...  
> hopefully it wont take me as long to write da next chapter because im actually lookin forward to writing it! but with my motivation. who knows


	14. reconnection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAHHHH!!! i hopped out of my writing fuge-state and rushed to write this chapter and got it done in two days!! which im actually rlly happy abt cuz the last chapter took me a long time to write lol.  
> But!!! pacing i feel for dis one iz a Bit off but. i physically Needed to write it or else i'd pass away because i literally had the capacity for nothing else.  
> anyway!! Cw for blood and bruises this chapter but its jus description ov injuries.

Given that the noivern had been packing people around all day with very little rest time, it took an understandable amount of time for them to finally arrive outside the warehouse. And really, it could have just been any warehouse, but from the looks of the outside gates, bashed in with scorch marks lining the gravel and scant grass, Gordon was pretty sure it was the right place. 

Quickly sliding off the Pokémon’s back, Gordon pulled a Pokéball of his own from off his belt as their group started toward the busted open doors of the building. From the look Stong had taken on as soon as they passed through the entrance though, Gordon had a feeling he probably wouldn’t even need to be using one of his own Pokémon. The main entrance was mostly destroyed, with a few exposed metal bars and parts of the ceiling having caved in, but as they progressed down a few more halls, the look of the place seemed a bit more stable. There was still an occasional fist shaped dent in a wall that Gordon couldn’t quite tell if it was from Dr. Coomer or one of his Pokémon, but seeing as the damage didn’t stop as they continued was a hopeful sign. 

After a few minutes of picking their way through the various winding halls, they finally came upon an expansive room, with a few different corridors branching off of it. 

“Well that’s just our luck,” Gordon muttered, padding after Stong who’d immediately trotted in the direction of one of the halls on the furthest side of the room and glancing down it, “Looks like everybody split up to check out the different directions. You wanna try that?” 

Darnold made a halfhearted sound as he checked the next tunnel over, “It wouldn’t hurt. Just… Meet back up here if there’s nothing?” 

“Yeah, if you meet up with anybody else, uh, tell em’ I’m here too-” 

Stong let out a sudden bark, her ears perking up as she sniffed down the direction of the tunnel they were facing. Glancing back at him, the glow in her eyes seemed to have brightened slightly, her tail having set to wagging again. 

“I’ll take the noivern,” Darnold said, already padding down the corridor he’d been regarding, “You’d better follow her before she gets lost.” 

And looking back- yeah, Stong had already started off down the passageway without him. Letting out a rushed goodbye, Gordon hurried after the midnight lycanroc, skirting around a pile of rubble and iron wire. Stong hadn’t gone far, but she set a determined pace, her twitching nose high in the air as they proceeded. After sidestepping a few more mounds of rubble that got increasingly larger as they continued, they finally arrived at a blockade in the hall. A large steel beam seemed to have fell through from one side of the ceiling, dragging down a mass of wiring, insulation and bricks along with it, blocking whatever was beyond. 

Stong didn’t seem deterred in the slightest though, immediately padding to the side and tugging on the debris there. Gordon watched her struggle for a moment, glancing behind them and heaving a sigh, “I don’t think we’re going to be able to get through that easy, we might just want to go and head down another tunnel-” 

Gordon yelped at the sudden nip to his ankle, taking a jerky step back and glaring down at the Pokémon before him. His words of reprimand died in his throat though as Stong let out the most pitiful whine he’d ever heard, bringing her wet nose to the palm of his injured hand. He- he wasn’t usually privy to puppy-dog eyes, Joshua had given him plenty before in attempts to get out of training but Stong was _really_ selling him on that shit. It wasn’t like she was just down here to play either, she’d obviously come down this way for _some_ specific reason, so it couldn’t hurt to help. 

“Alright, alright,” he conceded, gently patting the top of Stong’s head and earning a to find Xavier’s Pokéball off his belt. Letting his chesnaught out, he gestured toward the wreckage, “We need to clear this up to be passable alright? Just… Try not to let anything else come raining down on us.” 

As Xavier and Stong got to work carefully dismantling the blockade, Gordon did his best to help, but after it became pretty clear that he was just getting in the way and aggravating his injuries further, he decided to take the hint and sit this one out. Resigning himself to watch down the hall in case anyone hopped in for some sort of surprise attack. He doubted that would happen, but it wouldn’t have been out of the question given how they had jumped them before in the forest. 

Eventually though, Stong let out a yip, drawing Gordons attention back to the now mostly cleared ceiling remains. He’d have to do a bit of scrambling over the large bar that had caused the initial cave-in, but overall, they’d both done a good job. Thanking Xavier, he put the chesnaught back in its Pokéball, and settled to following Stong down the winding hall again. The lights became sparser as they moved along, some flickering in a harsh way that made his head ache, and some being either totally burnt out or destroyed beyond repair. Gordon didn’t have especially good night vision, but the dim glow from Stong’s eyes was enough to see by in the darker patches so he didn’t worry too much. 

The further they progressed, the quicker Stong’s pace became, forcing Gordon to jog to keep up. Her hackles rising preemptively as they pushed on, a low growl rumbling out from her chest that had him immediately wanting to recoil. He knew the growl wasn’t directed at him, Stong was still glaring on ahead, her ears pressed back nervously, but the sound still triggered that gut-clenching fear instinct despite it all. Letting out a resounding bark that made Gordon wince, she suddenly dropped to four legs and charged around the corner ahead of them, her claws scrabbling against the rough stone floor. 

Letting out a breath, Gordon jogged on after her, not wanting to put any more strain on his ankle than there already was. Rounding the joint in the hallway, Gordon immediately spotted Stong amidst the darkness, her muzzle pressed through the gap of… Something. Jumping forward to pull her back from maybe danger, Gordon looked to see what she was getting into and- 

Holy fuck. Holy _shit_. Gordon felt his face pale as he stood stock still at the sight of the actual fucking _jail bars_ there, that Stong was still trying to force her head through, whining all the while. It was less of the physical barrier that had Gordon suddenly feeling faint, than what was trapped behind them. 

The ‘what’ being Benrey. 

They were huddled up in the furthest corner of the concrete room, the shoddy bed having been pushed out of the way so they could fit themselves in the crevice between the metal frame and the stone. Their back was to him and Stong, but from what Gordon could see, their beanie was missing and they looked a little worse for wear, dark hair matted against their head and spiking up wildly. Swallowing over the sudden wave of light-headed-ness that threatened to send him to his knees, Gordon forced his gaze away from Benrey and to the actual outside of the cell. 

The door had a spot for a key to be inserted so they could actually get in, but he didn’t have the time to go run around and find that, so Gordon settled for the second-best option; being his incineroar. Taking Shari’s Pokéball out, he released her by the door of the cell. 

“Alright, I need your help with this,” he murmured as quietly as possible, padding to his Pokémon’s side to show her what he was trying to get at, “These hinges need to be melted off, _but_ , you have to do it as carefully as possible. I don’t want them getting touched by any fire, okay?” 

Shari let out a grumble, but nodded regardless, fitting her clawed hands around the joints of the doors and curling them into fists. Gordon took a step back as the bars began to smoke from beneath her grip, orangish red metal dripped down under from Shari’s hands as she continued, spattering onto the cool stone floor with a hiss that had Gordon tossing quick, nervous glances to Benrey. 

Finally though, after Shari had taken out the final hinge and had wiped the last of the melted metal from her paws, Gordon hurriedly ruffled the fur on her head, giving her quick instructions to keep watch, and moved the door aside. The metal scraped against the floor, but Benrey barely even moved which only had Gordon going faster. 

Scrambling to kneel beside them, Gordon sucked in a shaky breath as Benrey finally lifted his head from where it’d been tucked under his arm. Their shift upright revealed a wide gash ran from just above their hairline to the middle of their forehead, and it looked like it’d long since dried up, but the dark red trail was still there. His left eye was dark and swollen shut, promising a nasty bruise that Benrey would definitely be wincing at later. A few other scratches and scrapes lined his face and neck, but other than the main two injuries that Gordon could see, he looked mostly alright. 

Blinking their one good eye open, Benrey’s brows furrowed as they woozily tried to focus on Gordon. And it hurt to see the painful recognition flash through their features, quickly followed up by a sharp hiss as their head knocked back against the wall behind them, but they were fucking there, and Gordon was rapidly tearing up at the sight of them. 

“Gordon?” His voice was weak and trembling, but it was enough to break the dam that’d been building Gordon’s his chest ever since he’d woken back up. Stinging tears spilt down his face as he furiously nodded, trying his damndest not to reach out and immediately pull Benrey into his arms. 

“Yeah, I’m here.” 

Swallowing audibly, Benrey’s mouth opened once then closed again as their gaze darted away from him, “Stong find you? I told her to.” 

“She did,” Gordon reaffirmed faintly, “Helped me out a bunch.” 

Benrey was quiet for a long moment, their eye squeezing shut before locking into their stare-down with the space just over Gordon’s right shoulder, “M’ sorry.” 

Shaking his head quickly, Gordon tightened his hands into fists over his knees despite the ache it brought to his fingers, “No don’t- don’t fucking say that, okay? I said horrible shit to you and didn’t even let you explain what was going on and you got stuck here and,” Gordon raked in a rattly breath as Benrey looked back to him, guilt and tears swimming through his vision as he finally reached out to take one of Benrey’s hands in his own, “It’s my fault you’re here, because if I’d just listened you wouldn’t be- you wouldn’t have had to go through this so I’m really sorry man. I should have listened to you.” 

Benrey’s grip tightened around Gordon’s hand as they let out a raspy breath, “You don’t gotta… Say all that. Was bad, didn’t tell em to go away; now you hafta’ deal with this too.” 

“I’m… I’m not going to say I’m not still a little mad about that,” he confessed, his hand squeezing Benrey’s once, “But I came here for you okay? Tommy’s Dad is here hopefully getting him out and raising some hell along with everybody else; and Stong and I came and found you. I really needed to say sorry for all of this and just- I need you to know that I’m glad you’re here- not- not _here_ , here but you get what I mean. And that I don’t hate you.” 

“You don’t?” 

A million different feelings swirled around in Gordons throat, each threatening to overwhelm him as he finally closed the small gap between them, pulling Benrey into a tight embrace as he buried his face against the side of their neck, “No, I don’t.” 

Benrey made a sound like it’d been punched out of them as their hands finally moved to hold around him as well, eventually clutching at the loose fabric over Gordon’s back as they trembled against him. Quavering breaths billowing through the tight space as they’d clung to each-other for a long moment. Gordon could feel their tears trickling down from their chin onto his shirt, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care all too much because he was doing the same to their tattered shirt too. 

Benrey still smelled like blood and salt though, only further reminding him that they needed to get out of here. So, reluctantly, Gordon tapped lightly against Benrey’s back with his forefinger as he pulled away, quickly moving his sleeve over his thumb to swipe away the blood still tracking along their forehead. He could feel the warmth of their skin even through the fabric, which wasn’t a promising sign, but he could hope. They didn’t _look_ too feverish, but their face did look a bit abnormally flushed 

“We’ve gotta get outta’ here,” he said softly, averting his eyes from Benrey’s own, and pulling his hand back from their face, “Find your Pokémon and everybody else, then get you someplace safe-” 

Shaking his head, Benrey pulled at his sleeve, dragging Gordon’s attention back to him, “No- bro we can’t go, they’re- they’re doing something bad.” 

Gordon’s brows furrowed in confusion, “Yeah, I know, they took you and Tommy-” 

“Dude, just, listen to me okay?” 

Gordon shut his mouth. 

“They- I left a long time ago alright? Realized this all was _bad_ , and I didn’t _wanna_ be bad anymore, so I ollied’ outie’. Didn’t go well because uh, the lady, Judith, found me and wanted me to come back okay? Said shit about making something strong so nobody had to be bad anymore and we could all live fine. But _I_ was living fine after I dipped, you know? Got- got a place for myself, made bud’s with Tommy, shit was cool. She uhm,” Benrey’s fingers tapped along Gordon’s wrist, “She didn’t like it though. Said mean and unpog things- threatened Tommy n’ me if I didn’t help out. So, I uh, I had to bro. She wanted me to find mew and I figured there’s- it wouldn’t be in just a whatever forest and you know, _show_ itself to us all but uh. It did. And she was following and I- I didn’t think she’d go through with being mean but.” 

Benrey shrugged, his fingers finally stilling around Gordon’s wrist, “Anyway, uhm, she was mad about loosing mew but she uh- she said the net had enough whatever on it to go through with what she was trying to make, and I don’t- it’s a no-good bro. It’s like the fuckin- game over Mario screen, no more lives left kind of bad. Dark Souls, you died.” 

“So…” Gordon tilted his head back slightly, trying to translate the Benrey-isms through his head, “There was something on the net? And the Judith lady is using it to make something bad?” 

Nodding, Benrey pulled a little more on Gordon’s arm, “Yeah, _bad_ -bad. Supervillain levels of not good.” 

Gordon sighed, moving back to hold both of Benrey’s hands in his own as he carefully helped him to his feet, “Guess we’re gonna have to stop her then,” Looking Benrey over, he didn’t seem to be particularly injured, but he was favoring his left a little, and Gordon didn’t know if it was going to be an issue or not, “You- you up for walking?” 

“Huh? Why you checking me out bro? Think little uh, think Benny’ boy’s hot shit? Gonna’ offer to carry me?” 

Huffing out a laugh that only had Benrey grinning wider, Gordon shook his head, glancing away a little to hide the sudden heat rushing to his face, “I- let’s just go, we’ve got fucking- evil organizations to put a stop to as well now.” 

“So I can get a kiss-kiss _after_?” 

Gordon risked a glance over to Benrey, maybe- _maybe_ looking a bit genuinely hopeful. Instead of gambling on a response though, he just took one of Benrey’s hands in his own and started toward the door of the cell, hoping that it was enough of an answer for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh? lore?  
> you wont get an answer till like, two or three chapters from now but. its pretty obvious ifv u already know pokemon lore. or jus, pokemon in general.  
> but FINALLY i get to write benrey/ gordon bonding again; and y'all would not understand the RELIEF i felt writing this chapter compared to the past few. like, gosh. Gosh. this is abt them and NOTHING else. except it is because i actually have plot im trying to work in lol.  
> anyway!! happy holidays and hope y'all ar well!! *kisses* /p and goodnight!


	15. puzzles, puzzles, puzzles!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! its sure been a long time since i updated this huh lol! i got too nervous having Not updated it in a while so i ground this out in two days and pulled grammarly out to make sure it was good.  
> i don't know how my update schedule is gonna turn out for this though. i have another filler chapter to do before I can think abt 'da good stuff' and the aftermath of that and i don't even know what ima do with it so. next update might take a while too, who knows.

Gordon quickly learned that getting Benrey out wasn’t going to be as simple of a process as he’d initially expected. Not that he’d assumed it was going to be easy, given their penchant for derailing anything and everything as much as they possibly could. But as soon as they stepped foot out of the cell, Stong was immediately all over Benrey. She’d already half attempted to scrabble into Benrey’s arms before Gordon turned around to shoo her off. She’d been casting him sulky looks ever since but still remained close to Benrey’s side. And Gordon didn’t _want_ to have to be a stickler about it, but Benrey was already struggling to keep up as it was and didn’t need any extra stress on whatever injuries they had. 

It didn’t stop Benrey from trying to be an asshole though. 

“You’ve gotta scoop me up in your arms bro.” 

He glared at them from the other side of the fallen steel beam, “It’s literally two feet tall; you can _easily_ get over that.” 

“ _Nooo_ ,” they whined, throwing their head back dramatically, “I’ve gotta’ limp leg man, you have to help me over.” 

Gordon crossed his arms over his chest, “Dude, you walked the whole way here, just- step over it, it’s a little obstacle.” 

“Help me over? Help your best friend over the thing? Please?” 

“Will you cut the bullshit so we can continue on to find everybody please?” 

Benrey blinked lamely at him, holding their arms up out in his direction and making a grabbing gesture, “Help, please?” 

Heaving out a breath, Gordon stepped back over the metal beam, taking Benrey’s hands into his own once more, “You’re a shithead, you know that?” 

Benrey only hummed in acknowledgment as they moved in tandem back over the pillar, keeping their hand intertwined Gordon’s prosthetic even as he pulled back away to continue down the hallway again. And for a moment, Gordon had never resented the false limb more, his other hand immediately twitching at the loss of contact between their palms. Almost immediately, though, Gordon batted the thought away, hoping desperately that the hall was dark enough to hide his embarrassed flush. 

If Benrey did notice, he didn’t bother commenting, swinging their arms between them jovially despite the falter in each of their steps. It didn’t seem to be getting worse, so Gordon tried not to worry about it too much and instead kept an eye on Shari, scoping out the area ahead of them. Her steps were light over the dusty cement floor, ears flicking back and forth as she scanned for any potential threats. 

Luckily, their new group of four made it back out into the main area without any run-ins. Taking a survey of each of the tunnels, Gordon figured it’d probably be best to head down the path he’d already seen Darnold going for because at least that way, he’d have a guaranteed encounter with someone on their side. As he started to move across the room, Benrey let out a hiss of pain as he stumbled over something, bumbling into Gordon’s side as he overcorrected. 

“You good man?” 

Benrey let out a sound akin to a broken slide-whistle as they lifted their head back up to meet his concerned gaze, “Yeah, _absolutely_. Keep going?” 

Gordon wasn’t entirely convinced but moving on _would_ put them closer to hopefully finding where Benrey’s Pokémon were being kept so his chimecho could heal him. Shaking his head out, Gordon tightened the grip of his prosthetic around Benrey’s hand in what he could only hope was a comforting motion as he turned his gaze back ahead. They were still walking alongside him well enough, which was a good sign, but that pronounced limp was sending all kinds of danger signals to Gordon’s brain as they moved on. 

He… He was sure Benrey would tell him if things got too much for them to handle. Gordon didn’t really want to resort to carrying them since it’d slow their pace down significantly, but if Benrey continued to struggle, he wouldn’t have any other option. Both of their Pokémon needed to be aware on all fronts to protect them, and the hallway was already cramped as it was, so he couldn’t let out another of his Pokémon to carry Benrey either. Letting out a silent huff, Gordon kept an eye on Shari’s back as they pressed further on. 

The hallway had the same basic layout as the last one they’d been down, cheap metal walls with pink and black checker patterns awkwardly printed along the sides. The lighting was better, seeing as the corridor they were currently walking down hadn’t caved in on itself, but what they _could_ see was cast under the harsh flickering yellow glow of long unreplaced lights. 

Shari’s ears perked suddenly, glancing back to him and Benrey before pointing ahead with a bright-eyed look, her tail swishing excitedly behind her back. And almost as soon as she did so, did a loud crash that rattled the walls and a telltale ‘ _hyah_ ’ echo from down the hallway. 

Gordon jerked almost entirely upright at the sound, a small grin working its way over his features as he looked over to Benrey. They seemed more nervous than anything, the sound seeming to have roused them some, but it made sense, even with Dr. Coomer being the professor of the region, not everyone was used to his boisterous attitude and yells. 

“That a uh, good sound?” Benrey asked tensely, Stong coming up to his side at the hint of anxiety in his voice. 

Gordon nodded, following after Shari, who’d walked to the end of the hall without was them and was practically vibrating with excitement, “Yeah! That’s my uh- that’s my Dad.” 

Benrey scrunched their nose up as the ruffled Stong’s mane with their free hand, “Gross, Feetman parent’s moments? Got the whole family up in here?” 

“Well…” Gordon heaved a breath, “I mean, kind of? He- He’s not _really_ my Dad, I guess but uh, close as I’m going to get. But yeah, by extension, I guess both of my parents are here.” 

Benrey looked on the verge of making what was probably another nosy comment when Gordon was abruptly scooped up into a pair of burly arms and lifted off his feet. His immediate gut instinct was to try and jerk out of the hold, but years of first-hand experience had taught him that there was no escaping Dr. Coomer’s grasp, especially if he was intent on keeping something in place. More than once, Gordon had seen the man wrestle Pokémon twice his size, the most impressive having been a wild sharpedo he’d managed to successfully wrangle. 

“Hello Gordon! I’m a father!” 

Tapping out on the underside of the professor’s arm, Gordon squeezed out a breath, “I thought you already knew? I mean- me and Darnold lived with you guys for a long time.” 

Dr. Coomer let out a chuff as he placed him back on his feet and looked away sulkily, “Well, no one ever told _me_ Gordon! I could have grounded you sooner!” 

Gordon laughed as he steadied himself, “You couldn’t’ve grounded me! I’m- I’m grown!” 

“Nah, Gor- Gordos’ little… Babyman over here… Gotta’ whine about everything, come on man.” 

The professor’s head slowly turned to Benrey, seeming to have realized their presence. Dr. Coomer’s expression went dark for a moment before clapping a firmer than necessary hand onto Benrey’s shoulder that made them wince, “Ah! You must be the Bipple fellow I’ve been heard so much about!” 

“Benrey.” 

“Boper?” 

“ _Benrey_.” 

Dr. Coomer grinned, “Well it sure is nice to meet you Borple,” he re-iterated, absolutely fucking with them, “But it would be a shame if I had to do anything in retaliation for your betrayal, wouldn’t it!” 

Benrey stiffened under the professor’s grip, his eyes widening slightly as his gaze flicked to Gordon, who only gave a ‘it is what it is’ kind of shrug in response. 

Fixing their stare back to Dr. Coomer, Benrey nodded quickly, “Yeah uh. Big shame. Would- would be mega sucks.” 

His smile widened a few degrees as he drew back, gesturing down the hall, “Darnold is waiting down on ahead where a puzzle is! There’s a locked door that may require your help Gordon!” 

Tossing him one last glance, Benrey gave him a slight nod as he headed down the rest of the hallway with Stong at his side, reasonably eager to remove himself from Dr. Coomer’s presence. It was only when Gordon was positive he was out of their hearing range did Gordon turn to Dr. Coomer again, arching one eyebrow at the older scientist, “You didn’t have to do that you know. I can take care of myself. Plus, they apologized.” 

“Gordon, you _do_ have the tendency to be a pussy! I was just getting the message across.” 

Huffing out a chuckle, Gordon shook his head, “How’d you even know that betrayal thing happened? Did- did Forzen tell you?” 

Dr. Coomer’s expression went perfectly blank before he focused back in on him, “Gordon! We’d better get a move on!” And with that sentiment, he turned on his heel, charging the rest of the way down the hall, presumably to wherever Darnold was examining the puzzle ahead. 

Shari blinked at him, apparently being the only one who’d stuck around to wait. Heaving a sigh, he padded over to his Pokémon, patting her on the shoulder as he walked past, “You know, I think things would be a lot easier if I wasn’t friends with people who had a basic understanding of how conversations worked and didn’t decide to be unnervingly cryptic all the time! It- it’s a simple question! I think I should be deserving of an average response at least once in a while! I’m not asking the impossible of them, am I?” 

Blowing a puff of steam from her nostrils, Shari’s whiskers twitched slightly as she looked unblinkingly down at him. Deciding to interpret that as agreement rather than something more judgmental, Gordon nodded to himself, walking on into the room where everyone was gathered around an elevated platform. Darnold was standing on the lip of the surface, his polteageist out and hovering around his side, holding its thumb and forefinger up under its chin in an imitation of Darnold’s current pose. 

Gordon smiled at the sight, waving slightly as Darnold looked over to him, “Gordon! I saw you uh- you found what you were looking for?” 

Nodding, he padded up to the platform as well to survey whatever kind of puzzle they were dealing with, “Yeah, they were behind a collapsed tunnel thing. Stong sniffed him out. But uh, what are we dealing with here?” 

“Well, it’s some pressure plate sort of puzzle. You- you’ve gotta’ start on that little glowing panel on one side and get the rest of the board to glow like it by walking in a continuous line around the spaces, and it should open up those big metal doors over there. I’m not sure what’s behind them, but it has to be important stuff if they’ve gone through the whole process of hiding them, so we’re trying to get in,” Darnold gestured off to his left to the massive iron slabs that seemed almost embedded into the wall. But after glaring down at the floor, he could see scrape marks along the edges of where the doors pulled outward, “Anyways, if you hop off or try to backtrack over the spaces you were already on, it electrocutes you which- it’s not a fun experience, I’ll tell you that. Problem is, a few were already cracked, and Dr. Coomer punched a hole in another one, so I don’t know if it’s solvable anymore.” 

Gordon walked over the board, avoiding the glowing plate, checking the four cracked boards over, and winding his way around a few times over. But ultimately, he came to the same conclusion as Darnold, the punched-out plate _had_ kind of destroyed the puzzle. The only way he could even think of moving around it was by trying to go diagonally over the space between two broken plates, but even then, it would still leave two other gaps he wouldn’t be able to fill in on the other side. 

“Do you think it’d work with three people moving around the board?” He asked hesitantly, walking the path that could _theoretically_ work, “Because if you and Dr. Coomer followed behind me onto the thing and I moved a little step over those two broken plates so you guys could stand on those other tucked away spots, would it work?” 

Darnold made a thoughtful sound as he examined the platform once more, “It might, but I really would prefer not to get an electrical shock again.” 

“Well, it’s looking to be the only option we’ve got,” turning around to find Benrey and Dr. Coomer both sitting down crisscross applesauce style on opposite sides of the room. Gordon waved the professor over, offering Benrey a small reassuring smile before looking back to the board, “Okay, Dr. Coomer, I need you to follow directly behind me, okay? I’m going to try to walk on this thing I guess, and try to get it open. You and Darnold are going to step into those far spaces on the bottom right side over there, and I’m going to walk the rest of the way around.” 

Dr. Coomer nodded, “Gordon, I’ll follow you anywhere!” 

“Alright, alright, so, you’ve got that? You’re going to stop on one of those two spaces over there?” 

“Yep!” 

Swallowing down his sudden anxiety at the very real prospect of being electrocuted by the puzzle, Gordon circled around the board till he was standing directly in front of the glowing square. It- it was going to be fine. Darnold said the shock wasn’t pleasant, so he’d already been jolted by it, and he was fine, so it wasn’t deadly; he would be okay. It still didn’t make him any less nervous. 

Stepping down onto the square, the panel sunk under his foot, letting out a pleasant hum as it clicked into place. 

Forcing his gaze forward, he moved onto the next panel, then the next, and slowly let himself just follow the designated path he’d set up in his mind. When it came time for Dr. Coomer and Darnold to step into their spots, Gordon sucked in a sharp breath as the panels sunk beneath each of their steps, but when no electricity came arcing up his legs, he let out a silent breath of relief. Now time for his part. Turning back to fill in the rest of the squares he had to do, Gordon carefully sidled over the space between two of the cracked slabs, making sure not to lift his foot up off the original side till he was secure on the other. And again, earning no electricity for the slight cheating, he continued onward, eventually having lit up the whole board. 

The room was silent for a few tense seconds as nothing happened. But then, with a harsh screeching that made Gordon grit his teeth, the doors on the backside of the room slowly pulled open. What laid behind was a bit disappointing for the whole theatrics of two massive doors; he’d at least expected a statue that would come to life or some hidden secret sort of thing, but no, it was just a bunch of separated Pokéballs lying on two pedestals. 

Before Gordon was able to puzzle out why they’d even be there in the first place, Benrey was darting past him toward the platform on the right, and only as Gordon saw there were just five Pokéballs there did he put two and two together. Nocking the Pokéballs back onto their belt-loop, Benrey gave Stong, who’d quickly trailed after him, a pat on the head before putting her back into her own. Grabbing another off its holster, Benrey released the Pokémon inside, already turning toward the podium on the left to swoop the Pokéballs' there up as well, mumbling to themselves the whole way. 

Sweety, their chimecho, twirled midair, letting out the sound of a few chiming bells that grabbed Benreys’ attention once more, “Oh, huh? Uh, Sweety, can you do a heal bell, please and thank you?” 

The Pokémon made a noise that Benrey seemed to understand as agreement as it began to sing, floating around them as it sang, and with each note that it seemed to hit, Benrey appeared to get a little more re-invigorated. Eventually, though, the song petered out, and it left the chimecho watching Benrey intently as they stretched a little, “Thanks Sweety, you could go back in your Pokéball now.” 

d with a small chirp, the chimecho obliged, bumping its head against the outstretched object so Benrey could clip it back onto his belt. 

“Well as uh, as nice as that was to see, I guess, what all did we open up exactly?” Darnold asked, clasping his hands together a little nervously, another action his polteageist tried to imitate as best it could without having actual discernible fingers. 

“Wha- oh uhm,” Benrey lifted the second set of Pokéballs so Darnold could see them, “These are my buddy Tommy’s. Gonna’ give em’ back to him when we meet up again. We’re gonna’… We’re gonna play some uh TF2 on the PlayStation three, bro.” 

Darnold brightened up at the mention of the game, and Gordon already knew they’d be sitting here for another half hour if they got into the logistics of the game, so he was a little quick to interject, “Yeah! So, we need to get Tommy’s Pokémon back to him, right? We still don’t know where he is, and he needs to be rescued, probably?” 

Ignoring Darnold’s glare at him from the edge of his vision, he watched the cogs turning in Benrey’s brain as they contemplated that, “Oh uh, yeah bro. Gotta’ go find my best bud Tommy.” 

“Well!” Coomer said in an unnecessarily loud and chipper tone, seemingly as eager to move on as him, “Now that _that’s_ settled. Onward!” Whirling around with a flash of his lab coat, he once again charged down the hallway. Leaving him, Benrey, and Darnold behind in the dust. 

“Suppose we’d better catch up?” Darnold asked after a moment. 

“He might destroy some more dangerous puzzles if we don't.” 

So, with that thought in mind, Gordon waved to Shari, still waiting by the edge of the room, and jogged after Dr. Coomer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo! if this puzzle is familiar its because i ripped it directly from Pokemon ranger guardian signs! its the rainbow grail puzzle that killed me a bunch of times over as a kid so i had to include it. and. i am following video game logic w this puzzle thing. u do the task? reward. s jus science bro..  
> but! yeah! im pretty happy with this chapter but also. writing this makes me so nervous now because like. im nearing the end so im Kinda loosing motivation so im only writing when i have good ideas/ feels fo dis so i don't like. tramp down da experience or anythin. I've been going thru bouts of seasonal depression and im Just getting out of that so Hopefully my writing will come back! idk, again, who knows, basically my motto for this fic at dis point.  
> also! if u have any other puzzle ideas for me. PLEASEEE feel free to tell me because. i am low on ideas fo next chapter aside from a few lines so. help helpie please. i will give u a virtual kiss kiss if u help.  
> anyway, hope y'all enjoyed!


	16. jump in the line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! im back again with another chapter! and we're in the home-stretch now too!! im expecting maybe two more chapters out of this? i still have a bunch of side information i want to include for this fic as well but i think im going to make another fic to include all that stuff on because if i look at this and see nineteen chapters instead of eighteen i'll go apeshit.  
> anyway! i was gone for a while because i didn't know what to do with this and was like waah i have to write another puzzle but! then i realized. this is MY fic. i don't gotta do shit if i don't want to. so i didnt! and honestly i think its better for that so i hope y'all gon enjoy this chapter!  
> CW for pokemon violence and someone viewing a pokemon as more of an object than a thinking being. also uh. explosion happens and gordon gets a bit self-sacrificial.

It didn't take long for their group to find the only other door that led further into the building. Many of the tunnels were collapsed like the one Benrey had been behind, but having Stong inspect a few of them proved that there probably wasn't much to find behind the rest anyway. The hall directly across from the entrance to the round room was the one the way they needed to go down to progress. There was one large metal door barring their entry, and a small panel sat next to it with a bright blue screen that semi-illuminated the darkened space. 

Bubby had his back to their group, tapping one foot against the metal flooring with his shoulders hunched up to his ears and arms crossed over his chest. His sableye, standing out by his side, glanced over its shoulder at their approach, revealing a sharp-toothed grin as it reached up to tug on the charred edge of Bubby's lab coat. Gordon watched with a smile as Bubby moved to bat away his Pokémon's hand, stopping short when he seemed to catch sight of them out of the corner of his eye. And almost as soon as he did so, was Dr. Coomer bounding across the room to lift his husband into a double-armed hug. 

Bubby's face pinched into a look of familiar annoyance as he let himself be lifted from the floor, "You all took your time." 

"We had other things to be doing, professor! I destroyed a tile puzzle!' 

"Doctor." 

"Professor!" 

" _Doct_ -" 

"As _much_ as we would all enjoy a repeat of this argument," Darnold interjected, waving one hand to the small, glowing blue panel next to the door, "What's that?" 

Heaving out a breath as he was placed back down, Bubby stiffly walked over to the scanner thing, tapping something onto the screen, only for it to flash red and chirp rudely at him when it didn't unlock, "It needs a _keycard_. I wasn't just standing here and not unlocking it on purpose!" 

"Why didn't you just bust it open?" Dr. Coomer asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice. 

As Dr. Coomer and Bubby trailed into a squabble that was probably going to lead into a fistfight as soon as he turned his back, Gordon looked over to Benrey, holding one of Tommy's Pokéballs in his hands. He quickly moved to their side to place a comforting hand onto their shoulder, drawing up his best confident smile that he could muster, "We'll find him. Tommy's gonna' be fine." 

Benrey frowned, tucking the Pokéball back into their pocket, "Duh, he's uh. He's the Champion. Can handle himself. Just- without Sunkist and the rest of his Pokémon, he's kinda not in a good spot bro. Can't- can't make any flamethrowers or whatever to protect himself, ya' know?" 

Gordon bit his lip, looking back to Bubby and Coomer, who had, as predicted, started wrestling over the floor, "Forzen and his Dad are somewhere around here. They- they'll have found him. We've just got to wait for them to show up here." 

Sulking, Benrey flashed a quick look to the duo wrestling on the ground; Dr. Coomer had Bubby in a headlock at this point, so Gordon knew it was probably going to devolve into a full-fledged Pokémon battle soon enough. It'd probably be better for him, Benrey and Darnold to take a few steps away before they were dragged into the fray as well. 

"Hey!" Gordon shouted over the sound of the professor's squabble, "Maybe it'd be good to conserve energy for the battle that we might be having in a bit?" 

Coomer looked up from where he'd been grinning down at Bubby, "Hello Gordon! I'm only using two percent of my max power! This is nothing!" 

While Dr. Coomer was distracted, Bubby jerked back to throw him off and swept the professor's legs out from beneath him, and even with the loud crash of Dr. Coomer falling backward, Gordon knew better than to be worried about him. Darnold was waiting by the exit of the room when Gordon and Benrey promptly turned around, his hands clasped nervously behind his back. 

Once they'd made it over to him, Benrey flashed them both a pained, quizzical look, "Are… Are the two old dudes always like that?" 

"Have you seriously never met either of them before?" Gordon asked, "At least to get your starter or something?" 

As Benrey shook their head, Darnold's lips formed into a teasing grin, "Not everyone gets their starter from the professors Gordon! Just because you got two doesn't make you any better than the rest of us!" he said good-naturedly. 

Gordon scoffed, heat rising to his face as he glanced away, "I didn't just _pick_ two, you know! I got Shari later on as a gift." 

And it was really only as Darnold and Benrey both began a back and forth of needling him over something completely trivial and unimportant did Gordon really realize how much he had to lose. His whole _family_ was here, and if the warning Benrey gave him was anything remotely as bad as they'd been saying, all of them were going to be threatened by its presence. Whoever these people were, whatever 'good' Judith thought she might be bringing to light, was going to endanger _everyone_ Gordon cared about. She'd already stopped them before; she'd taken out the _Champion_ for fucks sake, in no way could he reasonably stop whatever was going to happen on his own. 

But he _wasn't_ doing it on his own either. Which was as comforting a thought as it was terrifying because if they all lost, they'd go down together. So if he could stop it on his own, if there was _any_ way to save everyone else, Gordon would take it. 

Benrey's icy eyes flicked just over Darnold's shoulder at the sound of footsteps proceeding down the hall. And Gordon felt a smile work its way onto his features as he recognized the figures there, quickly trotting after Benrey, who'd immediately launched himself down the hall to pull Tommy into an embrace after seeing the guy. 

"Benrey! Mr. Freeman! It- it's really good to see you both," Tommy said from where his cheek was resting atop Benrey's head. He didn't look nearly as roughed up as Benrey did when Gordon had found them, but he did spot a splotchy bruise on his upper forearm and just on the underside of his jaw. 

"It's really good to see you guys too," Gordon said as he made it over to him and Forzen, eying the noivern behind the ranger for a moment before turning to Darnold, "I thought it was with you?" 

Darnold shook his head, "It uh, left pretty soon after I found the puzzle room. But speaking of puzzles I guess, did either of you find a keycard? The only way to proceed is with one." 

Forzen perked up, fishing a grey piece of plastic out from his pocket, and flashed Darnold a grin, "Like this? Got it from uh. From fighting a dude." 

As Benrey detached himself from off Tommy's side, Gordon watched him fumble with the second loop of Pokéballs before handing them off to Tommy, "Found these with mine, can't- can't let the Champion go without his Pokémon." 

Tommy situated the Pokéballs onto his own belt and glanced around with sharp eyes, "This is everybody then?" 

"Your Dad should be hanging around here somewhere, and Dr. Coomer and Bubby are… Yeah," Darnold said nervously, flashing a hesitant look back toward where Dr. Coomer and Bubby were still scuffling, "I'm not quite sure what we're going to be up against, but I have a feeling it's not going to be any good." 

"S' a uh… Superweapon," Benrey mumbled, "Something from mew. It's why they tried to capture it. Splice DNA or whatever. Make something powerful and unbeatable." 

"They… _Made_ a Pokémon?" Forzen asked softly, his scarred face twisting into something like remorse. 

"It's not like it hasn't been done before," Gordon murmured, "Trubbish were made from bags of waste, and golett were made from clay. It's… Not entirely new. But if it's something made just to be _controlled_ , we're going to be looking at an entirely different kind of Pokémon. Something bad. So, we… We might have to prepare to do more lasting damage to get it to stop. If it is just a… Husk for commands." 

Forzen didn't seem too satisfied with his evaluation but nodded regardless, his gaze flicking downwards to the card in his hands. Gordon swallowed down the bile rising in his throat and turned back to the door where Bubby and Coomer were waiting, nerves making his hands tremble and his _still_ injured ankle ache with a dulled pain. 

Because this could be it for them. Maybe the Pokémon would be too strong for _any_ of them, and they'd loose. Life as they knew it could _end_ because of one person's decision. If they didn't _try_ though, it would happen regardless. So, they had to press on. 

Turning back around, Gordon spotted fresh tears in the professors' coats as prominent markings of their most recent scuffle. Still, the both of them seemed fine to play it off like nothing happened, so Gordon tactfully decided not to mention it and instead watched as Bubby's sableye trotted up to Tommy. And before Gordon could warn the Champion, he leaned down with an outstretched hand to pat the top of the Pokémon's head. Baring it's pointed teeth in a grin, the sableye leaped up and immediately clamped its teeth into the sleeve of Tommy's thick jacket. 

Jerking back with a yelp, Tommy vigorously waved his arm to futily dislodge the Pokémon, much to Dr. Coomer's delight, "Bubby, your Pokémon is beautiful! And violent!" 

Tommy flashed the professors a quick glare, seeing that neither of them were going to help, and held his arm still as he seemed to figure out the Pokémon wasn't going to dislodge itself any time soon, "Could- can someone please take the uhm, the Pokémon off me please." 

Darnold was quick to step in, hardly hiding his smile as he pried the sableye with a practiced motion off Tommy's sleeve, "Bubby's Pokémon are all like that, unfortunately." 

"My Pokémon are all _perfect_ ," Bubby sniped, waving his sableye back over with a flippant gesture, "Now bring that keycard over so we can get a goddamn move on. I want to go home." 

Forzen deflated a bit as he trudged over to the scanner, his boots audibly clicking against the flooring, only serving to make the room's energy all the more tense. And as he pressed the little card against the glowing panel, the thing chimed pleasantly as the screen flashed white, the door pulling open in a fluid motion. And it would have been so much easier if the room was half dark, only illuminating what was necessary for dramatics; it would have been fitting. But everything was near painfully bright, making Gordon squint against the change of lighting. 

The room was almost clinical with how everything was arranged, tables lining all the back walls, littered with stray instruments and stacks of papers. It almost looked normal if not for the massive tube in the center of the room. Various machines were blocking the thing from full view, a screen displaying a heartbeat, a chart with various notes taped to it, and a large central panel with a variety of switches and buttons that probably brought up a bunch of useless information. It was what was in the tube though that held Gordon's gaze. 

The fluid inside was a bright amber color, and it held some sort of Pokémon in suspension there. It was curled over into a tight ball, its long tail wrapping up and over its vaguely feline shaped head. It had strong looking legs, twitching or jerking occasionally as it floated. By comparison, its arms were relatively smaller, crossed over its thin chest and gripping onto its shoulders. The only visible things keeping it in place were the various nodes attached to the Pokémon's temples and the ones running down it's back. 

Gordon's overwhelming impression of it though- was that it was still just a baby. The head was larger than the rest of its body, and it was still so _small_ compared to the rest of the tube. It was still just a baby. 

"It's a unique specimen, isn't it?" Judith grinned from across the room, flicking a bit of hair out of her face as she stalked forward, "It showed remarkable growth after infused with the sample we were able to get from mew. It would have been full-grown had we been able to get the entire Pokémon, but I'll take what I can get. I decided on the name mewtwo for it. Not exactly original, but it pays enough homage to where it came from." 

From the edge of his vision, Gordon spotted Forzen and Tommy reaching for the Pokéballs at their side, hesitation written in every one of their apprehensive movements, but Judith spotted them before he could try and bullshit through a distraction for them. Making a tsk’-tsk' sound, she took a few steps further in their group's direction, patting one hand on the side of the tube. 

"It really is a shame that it'll have to be deployed so soon, but what can you do. It's already the strongest Pokémon out there, and it's not even fully developed! I'm very excited to see the rest of its progress, but I'll let you all have a sneak peek of what it can do." 

Gordon sucked in a breath at the same moment Benrey lunged from his side; they were too far away to get there in time, it was a whole room's distance away, but Benrey still tried. The glass splintered outward, and Benrey was forced to take a step back to hide their face. The gold-colored liquid spilled forth past the spilled edges of the glass as the small Pokémon thumped against the bottom of the container, blinking suddenly as it looked around. 

"Get them mewtwo!" 

The command hardly seemed to register with the small Pokémon as it shook its head, sending a spattering of the liquid onto the floor as it dried off. And Gordon was just on the verge of laughing when mewtwo's eyes lit up with a hazy blue glow. 

"Fuck." 

Benrey was the first to dive backward away from the psychic blast that exploded out from the little Pokémon. Though it was less of them running away and more of them getting blown back, so they knocked right into Gordon and sent him tumbling to the floor. 

Almost immediately, though, Dr. Coomer was at his side, helping him back up with a grin, "Now I know you love taking naps on the floor Gordon, but in the middle of battle is not the prime opportunity!" 

Patting the professor's shoulder in silent thanks, Gordon's eyes flicked across the scene ahead of him as he tried to gauge what to do next. Benrey seemed pretty intent on brute-forcing it right up to the Pokémon, only to be repeatedly knocked back by it, and Tommy and Darnold were going after Judith as she let out a few of her Pokémon to wreak some damage as well. 

"Shit," Gordon quickly waved Shari to his side as he skidded back a foot from another blast, barely managing to retain his footing, "Okay! Fucking hell- Forzen! Dr. Coomer! You guys help Benrey with that fucking mess. Me and Bubby are going to try and take Judith out. She's giving the commands, so it might stop mewtwo if we get her down." 

"Why do _you_ always get to be the leader," Bubby huffed, already starting in the direction of the fight happening with Tommy and Darnold. 

Forzen offered him a brisk nod as he and Dr. Coomer charged off to help Benrey in whatever the fuck they were trying to accomplish with their mad scrambling. At the very least, it was distracting the Pokémon so they could beat Judith without its interference. Shaking his head, Gordon pointed Shari in the direction of the fight with the woman in question. 

They both charged over just in time to see her froslass fall from a fiery attack by Sunkist. The few other Pokémon of hers out seemed to just be an inteleon, a seaking, and a ditto- currently transformed to look like a copy of Darnold's azumarill. Gordon grimaced as he sent Shari out to fight the azumarill copy, type matchups were not in his favor currently, but he didn't really have the time to strategize or switch out Pokémon to get anything more favorable. 

Luckily, Darnold seemed to have done most of the damage on the ditto, and with a darkest lariat from Shari, the Pokémon transformed back into its natural state and feinted. Judith recalled the Pokémon with a hiss, sending out a mawile to take its place. Gordon let loose a grin as he yelled for Shari to wheel around and blast the steel type with a flamethrower, and combined with Darnold's azumarill's double-edge, the mawile was out too, not even having a chance to attack before feinting. 

Their odds only got better as they worked through Judith's Pokémon, their overwhelming numbers quickly working through her Pokémon till she was left standing just a few paces away from them, her face scrunched up with frustration. 

"Mewtwo! You have to finish them!" 

Gordon's head whipped around as he trained his gaze on the small Pokémon hovering mid-air now. And mewtwo seemed just as confused for its part, its brows drawing together as it looked Judith over. Its muzzle scrunched up as it glanced back to their team, its hands falling to its side as it slowly landed onto the now dusty floor, pointedly looking away from Judith. 

Letting out a groan, the woman whipped a device out of her pocket. Before anyone could react, it folded out into one of the flying machines she'd rode in on in the forest, "A _failure_ of a tool," she hissed, floating the device further up toward the ceiling, "And a failure of a group of a group you all are. You can't stop what this world is changing into with your power alone," whirling around on the device, a hatch opened up in the ceiling that she quickly floated out of, only pausing to whirl around and drop a small beeping device into the hole that'd opened up before turning to dart swiftly off into the sky. 

It took Gordon a moment to recognize what it was. It was small, just about the size of his outstretched hand, but there was a fuse coming from the end of it and- shit. _Shit_. That was a grenade. And there was no way any of them could run out of the way to avoid it in time with the way its insistent beeping was speeding up. 

It could be covered though. 

Minimize the strength of the blast and save everyone else. Hopefully. 

Gordon was moving before the thought even fully passed through his brain, swiping the Pokéballs off his belt and wordlessly shouting as he skidded over the flooring to cover the thing with his chest, hardly noticing how his ankle screamed in pain at him at the action. And distantly, over the thrumming of blood rushing through his ears, he could hear someone shouting back at him as they realized what he was doing. 

The warning tone reached a crescendo, and Gordon closed his eyes as tightly as he could- hoping to whatever the fuck that it wasn't nearly a powerful a blast to hit everyone around too. 

And it exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah idk what to tell y'all. i had that bit planned in my head since like. i wrote the betrayal chapter and it was Too Good to not include so! here is the culmination of my evil-ness!  
> Okay for real though. Don't read this next bit if you don't want story spoilers (nothing major just a reassurance) ima put one of these thingies --- for where you can skip to if ur fine with staying in the dark till next chapter but i know I spiral if i get too worried abt a fic or something so this is for y'all. Okay here spoilers start. ((gordon is going to be okay. i cant tell you how, but hes not going to die alright. check the little tags at the top. this is going to have a happy ending i promise you. hes not gonna get hurt.))
> 
> \---  
> Okay! ive seriously been waiting SO long to write this chapter and it makes me grin so big now that i was finally able to do it so!! i feel like it aint up to snuff with what i could done if i was at 100% health but i am happy with it. also... judith monolouging.. would not happen really but. pokemon villain okay. needed to have something to say. do NOT question me. its pokemon logic.  
> anwayz! i hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it! i'll see y'all next chapter (which will hopefully be out within the next two weeks because im Actually getting back into the groove of having a posting "schedule" again.


	17. and it was all alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comfort chapter after emotions i might have dragged you through last time! i am getting back into the swing of writing this and i realized! there will be nineteen chapters actually! twenty if ur gonna count the lil fun facts thing ima add onto the end of this fic because i cant stand looking at odd numbers on a fic for some reason but!!!  
> im really excited to do the next chapter!!! it's most of the way complete as im telling y'all this rn so it wont be too long till u get another update (prolly monday because im driven and way too impatient for my own good lol)  
> i started this chapter thinking i could fit everything i wanted into it and i reached like. three thousand words and i was only halfway and it was either make a monster chapter or split it in half and give myself some epic descriptions to write so >:) u can tell which one i went with lol. and i think s better for it tbh! anyway i hope u enjoy!

The grenade's exploded remains fell out of Gordon's hands as the protective bubble vanished from around it. Black ash scattered onto the floor as the only remnants of the blast; remnants he very well could have been had some Pokémon not used a protect on it. Before he was even able to raise his head to look around to see who'd saved him though, Gordon was being bowled over by someone tackling him to the ground. 

He felt numb in whosever grasp it was, clutching his shaking hands into the back of their shirt as his eyes roved to the ceiling. And just at the edge of the gap Judith had opened, there Gman stood, a shiny trevenant out by his side, its glowing blue eye staring him down. 

So that's who'd saved him. 

Gordon's consciousness drifted back into his own body at the second presence, lifting him and the first back upright so they could both wrap him up in a tight hold. Tucking his chin down over the first person's bony shoulder, Gordon distantly connected it to be Bubby. Meaning the second set of strong arms keeping them aloft was Dr. Coomer. 

"- _dare_ fucking do that again you dumb motherfucker. I'll kill you myself if you ever scare me that bad again." 

Squeezing his eyes closed, Gordon tightened his slack grip around Bubby's, leaning back into Dr. Coomer as he hid his face as best he could. A million apologies sat whirling around in Gordon's mouth, and he might have spat them out if he had been sorry for trying to protect everyone in the first place and not already busy sobbing into his father's singed jacket. 

He very well could have died. He'd been fully prepared for it too, his own life be damned. But here in both his parent's arms, Gordon was infinitely glad to be alive and not a destroyed pile of limbs scattered around the floor. 

It took a bit of quiet grappling with himself before Gordon was able to regain his breath, patting Bubby's back once before leaning away with a sniff, "Was just trying to save your ungrateful ass." 

Letting out a choked huff, Bubby's eyes behind his thick glasses glinted with tears as he forced his gaze away, "That's not your job to do you fucker." 

"I'm going to have to agree with Bubby here Gordon," Dr. Coomer said in a strained tone, "For attempting to become a blast blanket, I'm going to have to fine you twenty thousand Pokédollars." 

Chuffing out a short laugh, Gordon eased back from Bubby, letting the professor get to his feet and extend a hand down to help him up in return. Heaving himself upright with his help, Gordon offered a thankful glance to Bubby before turning to embrace Dr. Coomer as well. There was something metal in his coat that was jabbing into his ribs a bit uncomfortably, but Gordon practically collapsed in his arms regardless. He was safe. Alive. 

Eventually though, he was reminded of everyone else's presence by the soft sound of Tommy and Gman talking. Releasing Dr. Coomer as well, Gordon tossed an apprehensive look over his shoulder, "I'm… I should probably go see what's happening over there. Can we all talk later?" 

Bubby waved him off, not so discreetly wiping his eyes as he shrugged, "Go on. Just don't hop on any more grenades if you see them asshole." 

Offering the two a parting, wobbly smile, Gordon trotted over to Darnold who'd been hesitating a few feet away. They immediately wrapped each other into a hug as well, "Gordon, you're a fucking idiot." 

Humming softly in response, Gordon's gaze flashed over to Benrey, seated at the edge of the room as he dropped his chin onto Darnold's head, immediately making the other man squirm. Mewtwo was currently placated enough to have fallen asleep in Benrey's lap and didn't look to be moving any time soon. Its purple tail was curled around Benrey's forearm, and one of its small hands was clasped in theirs. It was almost cute; if said Pokémon hadn't been hellbent on attacking them all just moments before. 

Wriggling out of his grip, Darnold huffed, following his gaze over to Benrey, "You should… probably go talk to them," he said after a second, "They tried getting to you after the… Yeah. But the Coomer's got there first." 

Gordon nodded, murmuring out something to Darnold he couldn't quite hear over the sudden static between his ears. Benrey hardly glanced up at his approach, only seeming to notice his presence as soon as he was across from them. 

"Hey," Benrey's voice was soft, probably trying not to disturb the still sleeping mewtwo in his lap, "Sit moments? Please?" 

Almost too quick to comply, Gordon scrambled to get seated, practically quivering in place as Benrey looked back to the Pokémon in his arms. He noticed the fresh tear-tracks down their cheeks and the redness in their eyes with a wince. 

"Thought… You were gonna be gone for a second there. Gordon Freeman running off to- to save everybody and I never woulda' got to talk ab- never woulda' got to talk to you anymore. And that- it hurt bro. You fuckin' asshole Freeman, ' _whoo_ how about I go and try to die in an explosion,' not- not even wanting to play Mario Kart with your best friend afterward. I- I thought you were gonna' be _dead_ Gordon." 

Gordon's head hung lower with each of their pained words, practically curling into himself when Benrey finally finished, "It wasn't-" 

"Fuck off, I'm not done." 

Gordon bit his tongue despite the familiar flash of irritation in his chest and met Benrey's intense stare once more. 

"Know you were trying to do some hero shit, but there's- there's too many of us who'd miss you, ya' know? Can't… You don't wanna make everybody sad, do you? So fuckin' quit that please and thank you," Benrey paused to furiously blink away the tears building in their eyes, "But thanks, I guess. May still be a stupid dumb idiot, but. But you tried to keep everyone safe. Still dumb of you, but uh, yeah. I care about you and shit, so don't do it again." 

Gordon blinked, "You… Care about me?" 

Benrey cast him a wide-eyed, flustered look, but before he could respond with some sort of jab to throw him off what they'd just said, Gordon was distracted by the sudden outburst from behind him. 

"It's my birthday?" 

Gman nodded to his son, clapping one hand onto his shoulder, "It is still… In the, earliest hours of the day. But, yes. Happy birthday Tommy." 

The Champion grinned, turning to Forzen and Darnold, who'd made their way to his side before looking to everyone else, "Do- w- would you all want to go to my birthday party? I know it's late but- but I'll probably sleep for the rest of the day when I get home," He said a bit sheepishly, "It- it'll be at Chuck E Cheese though!" 

"Didn't that restaurant chain close down already?" Gordon asked questioningly, only to earn a withering glare from Gman. 

"Really, Mr. Freeman… To call Chuck E Cheese a, _restaurant_? It's such a, laughable notion, wouldn't you say?" 

"I- what do you mean? It's a restaurant! What the hell else would it be?" He asked, incredulous that he was even _having_ this conversation, "You go there for the pizza! It's a restaurant!" 

"It's an entertainment center!" Tommy piped up, as bright as ever but with a dangerous sort of undertone to his words, "You wouldn't- you go to uhm. You go to Dominoes or Little Caesars for pizza Mr. Freeman! You go to Chuck E Cheese to have fun!" 

Gordon bristled, turning fully around to stare Tommy and Gman down, "No, it's- you go there for the pizza! The arcade part is just a side attraction! It's got a salad bar!" 

"Then would you call _Disney Land_ , a restaurant Mr. Freeman? Hm?" 

"Disney Land isn't a fucking restaurant because the whole of it isn't a restaurant; there are restaurants _in_ it! You can't call it a restaurant if that's not-" Gordon let out a groan, "Whatever. Whatever! Yes, we'll go to your birthday party Tommy, at the _restaurant_ Chuck E Cheese." 

Gman's mouth tightened, but he nodded regardless, "A wise decision to go to the, entertainment center, Mr. Freeman," looking back to Tommy, his expression softened almost imperceptibly as he pulled a Pokéball from his pocket and pulled the trevenant back into its capsule, "I will. Ask them to prepare it, as usual." Letting his alakazam and hydreigon free from their Pokéballs, Gman's even gaze flicked to the Coomer's, "You may, ride my hydreigon to, Chuck E Cheese. It knows the way." 

And sending Gordon one final glare, Gman and the alakazam vanished. Presumably off to some Chuck E Cheese at who the fuck knows time in the morning. Almost as soon as Gman disappeared from the room, Coomer and Bubby were both scrambling over to the hydreigon with a cheer of "Dibs!" despite already having been given permission. 

Letting out a sigh, Gordon looked back to Benrey, who was lightly jostling the small Pokémon awake, "Gotta get up little dude. Goin' to a birthday party gonna'- gonna' get some pizza. Want some of that? Better than fuckin' tube shit I bet, come on." 

Mewtwo blinked awake with a yawn, glancing around with a severe glare before quickly struggling away from Benrey to stand on its own. Casting a quick look around, it seemed to marginally relax, shoulders falling a bit before looking back to them questioningly. 

Luckily, Tommy had whatever the Pokémon was worrying about covered as he sent out his dragonite and altaria, named Sprite and Sierra if Gordon remembered correctly, and immediately hopped onto the altaria's back, "Chuck E Cheese won't- it's not going to wait for us to get there! There's arcade games to play!" 

While Darnold and Forzen situated themselves onto the noivern, Gordon turned to Sprite, flapping over in his and Benrey's direction. He wasn't incredibly excited about the prospect of going back up into the sky for the umpteenth time of the day, but it was one step closer to getting to go home and fucking _sleep_. He could already feel exhaustion wearing at his staggering form but going to a party would probably be fine. He needed food in him anyway. Tommy's Pokémon had Gordon's own Pokéballs that he'd thrown clutched in its clawed hands which he took back with a grateful nod. Shari's was there as well which was strange because Gordon was _positive_ he hadn't put her back into her Pokéball, but it was probably fine, just a Pokémon putting another Pokémon back into its Pokéball. Completely normal. 

Carefully easing himself onto the dragonite's back after it leaned over for him to do so, Gordon watched tiredly as Benrey made their way over as well. The mewtwo floated into the air and watched their group evenly, probably set to follow them till it got bored and probably decided to fuck off to who knows where. Benrey scooting onto the Pokémon behind him, jerked Gordon out of his thoughts though, their front pressing against his back and sending a strange shiver through him. Instead of dwelling on the warm sensation of Benrey winding their hands around his middle, probably just to ensure they didn't go flying at takeoff, Gordon focused on the sudden burst of night air that washed over him as Sprite followed the hydreigon up and into the dark sky. 

Gordon could distantly hear Bubby and Coomer bickering from ahead them as the hydreigon flapped up into the air, but he trusted the two not to get too rowdy, especially with Bubby's fear of heights. Forzen and Darnold seemed to be having some animated conversation behind him and Benrey, but he couldn't hear whatever it was over the sound of the wind as they started to go a bit faster. Whatever it was though, had Tommy grinning too, crow's feet crinkling the edges of his bright eyes. Mewtwo didn't seem all too affected by the speeds at which they were going; if anything, it looked a bit eager to be going faster, darting ahead of the dragonite and looping back around to fly around the Coomer's before ultimately drifting by his and Benrey's side once more. He didn't know what Benrey'd done or said to earn the little Pokémon's trust so wholeheartedly, but despite the disinterested stares it sent them, it didn't seem keen on leaving their side too much either. 

He supposed mewtwo and Benrey were alike in that sense. 

Shaking his head out, Gordon squinted against the frigid air, blinking away the tears that rose to his eyes at the temperature change. It was just this one more thing, and then… They were done. Everyone would split ways, and he'd go back to the Coomer's house to presumably just keep his gym running and sit in their living room. Maybe try his hand at cooking or some shit to keep himself busy. Because after all of _this_? Gordon had gotten a taste for adventure again. Despite everything, he'd enjoyed everyone's presence and their little trek through the woods. Even if it'd ended badly, it'd brought them all together. 

But Tommy was the Champion, which probably meant he had his own duties to be taking care of. He wouldn't have time to stick around the stranger he knew for maybe five-ish days. Forzen was a ranger, and he'd mentioned something about graduating, whatever the fuck that meant, so he was probably going to be busy with trying to do that. Darnold had his whole other apartment that he lived at and couldn't fucking- _babysit_ him whenever he wanted company. Plus, he was probably going to be consumed with making better potions to impress that board that'd he'd mentioned before Gordon left for the forest. And Benrey likely had their whole _life_ to be putting back together, with Judith having come back into the picture for them so abruptly like that and forcing their hand. It'd be understandable if they needed time to themself too. Time to forget about him. 

Gordon stomped down the nausea rising in his chest, easing back into Benrey's arms, telling himself it was for warmth against the chilly night air. Definitely not because he was scared of losing Benrey the most. 

Because maybe he delighted in their company a bit more than everyone else's, with how easily they were able to make him laugh and how deeply he cared for them despite only having known each other for a few days. They'd been the main concern; whether he was willing to admit it to himself or not, upon setting out to rescue everyone, and that immense relief intermixed with that fluttery feeling when Gordon had found them again… He wasn't _stupid_ okay; he knew those weren't exactly platonic feelings to have toward someone, but it was dumb that he only realized it now. Or at least choosing to realize it. The only thing was that he didn't know if those feelings were returned or not. 

Benrey cared about him; Gordon knew that much; he just didn't know if it was to the same extent that he did for them. They were definitely less of a hands-on person than he was, but they'd accepted the contact every time he'd initiated it. Even going so far as to kiss him once and dance by the campfire. Gordon's face flushed at the recollection, and he schooled it back to something decidedly more neutral to at least _try_ and appear like he could get wound up that easily. 

But he still wasn't sure if Benrey liked him back. It all could have been an elaborate joke, and he'd just be making a fool of himself for asking for clarification. Or… Gordon didn't want to entertain the option lest he got more jittery than he already was mid-air. 

Benrey, either oblivious to his nerves or entirely uncaring of them, leaned a bit further into his back as well, hooking their chin over his shoulder and clasping their hands around his middle with a barely audible sound. His breath ghosted over Gordon's shoulder, and he found himself fighting to retain a straight face again, hands balling to fists ahead of him. 

"You cold bro?" Came Benrey's voice right next to his ear, "Shaking a bit. Little- little rattly boy?" 

Gordon huffed, swallowing down his previous thoughts and attempting to wrap his mind back around to the situation at hand, "A uh… A little bit, I guess." 

Benrey hummed, not moving from his spot, which Gordon figured was livable. If Benrey wasn't going to pull back on his own, he'd take all the contact he could get. The rest of the flight went as well as it could for him and Benrey, practically sharing the same air for half of the way there. The dark cityscape below them was a pretty sight below them as they flew, and despite his kneejerk instinct now to tense up at the height, Gordon found his absolute exhaustion of the day finally beginning to overwhelm him as they progressed. 

His eyelids never fully drooped shut, but as they flew, with cold wind no doubt whipping his hair back probably into Benrey's face, Gordon found himself on the cusp of a comfortable sleep. Never quite reaching that edge of sinking into unawareness but hesitating there. It didn't take long for the reality that he was nearly falling asleep on the back of an unfamiliar Pokémon miles high in the sky to sink in and jolt him back to awareness, but he felt a lot safer than before in Benrey's grasp. 

So in one bold, sleep-hazy confidant move, Gordon placed his hand atop Benrey's own, still latched around him. And it felt right. His skin was warm under Gordon's grasp, their hands were small enough that he could easily hold them in his own, but instead, he just danced his fingertips over their knuckles, still sharp enough not to fully commit but… Enough for himself to be satisfied. 

A silent vow he ran through his head to at least try. Try to tell them and not let another opportunity slip past his fingertips. But for now, Gordon just held on to Benrey's hand, content to rest in the still moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WEHOO AWESOME ME MOMENTS! ! ! i am a known gman disliker but the ONE thing i will agree on. is that Chuck E Cheese is an Entertainment Center. Mira is RIGHT and idc WHAT u hav to say. dat shit NOT a restaurant /lh  
> also sorry for not a lot of pokemon descriptions this chapter... i realized. wait. im at the end of writing this fic and. very little frenrey has actually happened so uh. count this as studying the day before the test lol.  
> im still happy w how this chapter turned out tho!!! feel my confidence for this fic coming back and. contemplating writing a boomer fic for this. ive Never really written boomer before aside as a background ship so it probably wont happen but i am having thoughts about how they woulda met and stuff and. man. exploration moments for me. i dunno! i might jus include some info abt in da fun facts chapter of this fic but. im thinking abt them.


	18. we gottem gamers... <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we're here! this has been a HELL ov a ride for me but im so glad i was able to take y'all on it!!!! its been so nice hearing what y'all hav to say abt this fic and :] i grin. now go on. shoo! read the chappy!

They reached the Chuck E Cheese maybe twenty minutes later. The parking lot was understandably empty for the time of night it was, but the building was entirely lit up from the inside. 

Gman was standing directly outside the main entrance as they finally touched down, his arms crossed behind his back and pale eyes trained on their group. As the dragonite landed, Gordon carefully waited for Benrey to unwind himself from around him before sliding off the Pokémon's back, busying himself with thanking the Pokémon by a few pets rater than meet Benrey's eyes as he dismounted behind him. 

The group made their way into the restaurant, and Gordon took the first opportunity to immediately crash into one of the booths on the side of the room and let the chaos play out before him. 

Tommy and Benrey were quick to hop to the restaurant's arcade section, racking up massive amounts of tickets; totally not with the help of Mewtwo's psychic powers and Sunkist, who was big enough to nudge certain games in their favor. Darnold, last Gordon had seen, had jumped off in the direction of the soda machine but was currently MIA, promising some sort of liquid disaster in their near future. Forzen seemed to be taking a moment for a breather as well, but with the way he kept eying the prize counter, Gordon figured he wouldn't be sedentary for much longer. 

On the other hand, Bubby seemed to have found a karaoke machine that he was currently setting up in the middle of the stage that usually displayed all the animatronics. Gordon didn't know where the machinery had been moved to, but he wouldn't have been surprised if they'd been 'repurposed' into the machine Bubby was building. Gman seemed content to supervise the professors mini-project, but Gordon was pretty sure he was occasionally having his alakazam materialize pieces for Bubby so he could complete the karaoke machine. And probably for the first time in his life, Dr. Coomer _wasn't_ causing any harm to public property and was calmly eating some of the greasy pizza. His machamp, on the other hand, could not have the same said for it, as it was lifting a skeeball game just for the fun of it. It was probably racking up all the property damage points in Coomer's stead. 

And it was… Nice. It was a crazy but unified sort of atmosphere he could get used to. Even if Bubby, as soon as the karaoke machine was set up, turned the speakers to max volume and immediately busted them with a singular supersonic blast from the first note of Dr. Feelgood. He resigned himself to playing Tekken matches with Tommy after the death of the karaoke machine. 

Darnold popped out of the bathrooms not too long afterward, brandishing a bright, reddish-brown, fizzing concoction above his head with the proclamation of, "I've done it! I've made an evil flavor!" Only to have Dr. Coomer slurp it down as soon as Darnold showed it to the professor. 

Luckily, it didn't seem to have any adverse effects on Dr. Coomer, probably because he'd reached his violence quota for the day, but he did hop behind the prize counter, pull out a saxophone, and begin a surprisingly good solo on it. Gordon was pretty positive that Chuck E Cheese didn't offer professional saxophones as their traditional prizes. Still, there wasn't anywhere else the professor could have feasibly gotten it from, so Gordon didn't question it either. 

He let his wandering stare drift over to Benrey and Forzen, seeming to be having some sort of heartfelt discussion on the other side of the room. Gordon quickly averted his gaze out of a sense of politeness and settled for watching a dejected Darnold trudge back to the soda machine, an empty beaker clutched in his hand. 

Gordon was jerked from his absentminded watching by the sudden presence of Gman sliding into the seat across from him in the booth, "I hope you are, enjoying the party, Mr. Freeman." 

Nodding, Gordon righted his position to better face Gman, internally hissing at the sudden pain radiating out from his lower spine. He didn't even know what'd caused that injury at this point, but the slight movement had reminded him of the aching nearly over his whole body, "Yeah, it's been pretty fun. I'm uh… I'm taking some time to just relax from everything that happened, you know?" 

Gman hardly seemed to acknowledge his words, moving his briefcase onto the table, which Gordon was surprised to find only contained some stacks of paper, a laptop, and a book. It would have been a hundred times cooler if he'd had a gun or something, Gordon thought quietly to himself, but it also probably would have made him pass out from stress or something. Which might not have been a bad thing either, given how heavy his eyelids felt, but he refocused as Gman slid a paper across the table to him. 

Picking it up, Gordon's eyes immediately flicked to the black and white picture in the top-right edge of the page, grinning as he recognized the mugshot there, "I figured she got away on that flying thing?" 

"She, _hardly_ made it to the edge of the town," Gman said in his usual stilted manner, but Gordon swore there was a hint of humor in the older man's voice, "I went ahead of your group, and… Tampered. With a few of the devices, in the woman's lab. All of the instruments were, fortunately, kept in one location. So, it was a relatively, simple, matter. It helped immensely that you and your… Group, were able to wear her Pokémon down as well. I hope… The use of my trevenant's protect was a, satisfactory, reward for aiding in her capture?" 

Gordon paled to think that Gman wouldn't have saved him if he somehow hadn't pulled his weight or some shit in the fight, but he opted not to anger the guy further than he probably already had, "Yeah, I mean- I guess? What about uh, mewtwo though? It's not… Benrey said it was a weapon or something. Is it safe to have around?" 

Gman went back to folding up his briefcase, letting Gordon keep the arrest paper, "I talked it over with… The professor Bubby, and he would be willing to try, to train the Pokémon, seeing how poorly it was reared. In the hopes of dissuading it from a more violent, nature." 

"Are you sure trusting an unreliable Pokémon like that to Bubby is the _best_ option?" Gordon asked hesitantly, "I mean, sure, treating the Pokémon right will definitely do a lot of good for making sure it doesn't have a dangerous outburst or anything, but our household isn't exactly the most peaceful? And not to like, dunk on the Coomer's or anything, but there's at least one battle inside the house per month." 

"Mewtwo does not require… A non-violent household, to be acclimated into. Battle is a key part of this world, Mr. Freeman, and especially for a Pokémon made with the sole intent of destruction, mewtwo will have to learn how to balance that. So, I believe, your household, would be the ideal atmosphere for it. Regular, non-competitive battling, I believe, would do the Pokémon some good." 

Sighing, Gordon looked over to where Mewtwo was hovering over Benrey's shoulder as he played on some arcade game Gordon wasn't familiar with, his tongue poking past his lips in concentration, "I don't know if Mewtwo will leave Benrey's side on its own volition. They uh, they seem pretty tight." 

Gman offered him a deadpan stare as he pulled himself out of the booth, straightening his tie before glancing down to him, "Then I do suggest, you fix the situation, Mr. Freeman. My… Last request of you, is to make sure Tommy finds somewhere to spend the night. I do not believe he will be, making it back home tonight. So please make sure he is able to find somewhere to rest," Taking a few steps toward the door, Gman didn't pause in his motions as he continued, "Have a... Good night Mr. Freeman." 

Gordon watched Gman go till he was outside the Chuck E Cheese. Looking back to the paper in his hands for a moment, Gordon tucked it away inside the pocket of his jeans. He'd probably forget about it later and only find it after it'd been run through the wash once and thoroughly destroyed, but it was the information that counted. Proof that all they'd done hadn't been in vain. He let out a dry laugh to himself as he eased his forehead down onto the oily tabletop; it hadn't been for nothing. 

Technically, Tommy had gotten what he'd come for; he only called Gordon out for expedition purposes and to find proof of mew, which they'd blatantly done. So they would all separate again, and he'd be alone once more. Gordon didn't _want_ to go back to being alone again. It wasn't like he had no friends, even if he could hardly call the Coomer's and Darnold since they were basically family, but Tommy, Forzen, and Benrey were his friends. Maybe. And he didn't want to lose those connections he'd made with them. It'd be weird to go up and just… Ask for their numbers to text them because maybe this was more of a regular occurrence to them. 

Tommy was a nice guy; he probably met and connected with a lot of people, especially being the Champion, he probably had a lot of friends. And Forzen probably went on a lot of different expeditions, too, with a bunch of people he'd never met before. It was probably just a get along with the people you have to stick around attitude. He wasn't sure about Benrey still, but he knew he didn't want to lose any of them. 

Getting up from his seat with a sigh, Gordon offered Coomer a wave before heading out the doors as well, a lighter saxophone melody following him till the glass doors closed behind him. Gman was long gone by the time he got outside, but the night air was refreshing on his warm skin. Gordon circled away from the main doors around the building until he was near the back door with no windows for someone inside to look out at him. He wasn't necessarily _tired_ of everyone else's antics, but a break from them would probably do him some good; he could go back in after he'd rested up some, get some pizza to eat, then head home. 

Letting out a breath that formed as a white mist from his mouth, Gordon eased back against the cool brick wall, undoing his ponytail to let his unwashed hair cascade down over his shoulders. The last water he'd probably been in was that river from back in the forest, and even that had been pretty unclean. _Definitely_ needed a shower. 

Wrapped up in his internal list of things to do when he got home that kept getting longer, Gordon almost missed the sound of footsteps on the cement. Glancing up from where he'd been staring a hole into the parking lot, Benrey offered him a small smile as he padded over in his direction. 

"You get tired of all the pachinko sounds, Feetman?" 

"Not really, just needed a break, I guess," Gordon's gaze flitted away as Benrey came to a stop beside him, a sudden onset of nerves making him mess with his hair rather than look in the other man's direction, "You uh, manage to get rid of mewtwo for a while?" 

Benrey nodded, easing back into the brick in a mirror image of his own pose, "Tommy and Mewtwo are cheating at the big bass wheel to get more tickets. Gotta get the… Bluetooth speaker. Worth all the tickets in the place bro. Priceless item." 

Gordon huffed out a soft laugh, glancing down to Benrey out of the corner of his eye. They were still missing the beanie, and their hair was as mussed as ever, but in the soft nighttime light, it almost didn't look so bad. Their posture was a little curled in on themselves, probably to ward off the cold, but Gordon could see the skittish look in their eye despite their neutral expression. 

"You come here-" 

"I've been needing to tell-" 

He turned to Benrey the same moment they looked to him, frozen for a moment before twin smiles split each of their faces, Gordon letting out a frantic sounding laugh even to his own ears while Benrey caught his shoulder with one hand to keep him from falling over, grinning all the while. 

"We're fucking stupid. This is so fucking dumb," Gordon said breathlessly after he was able to right himself, placing his prosthetic onto Benrey's shoulder, "Were you going to say, ' _you come here often_ '?" 

Scowling, Benrey almost retracted their hand before Gordon caught it in his own, immediately drawing their full attention to him. And they still looked so nervous, but it felt like nothing compared to the roar of white noise that was steadily increasing through Gordon's head as he met their eyes. An unpleasant sensation crawled up his throat as he squeezed Benrey's hand in his own, deciding to say fuck it, and throw his other one into the mix as well, linking both his and Benrey's hands together as he still fucking sat there in silence. 

"I'm- _fuck_ , I care about you too man. And I was too dumb to realize it for a while, but I care about you a lot, okay? Like, a fucking lot, and I don't want to lose that. You've made me smile probably more than anyone else, and you- I like you. I like you so fucking much, and I don't want to lose you. . I've had the time of my life exploring again and doing it with someone I genuinely enjoy being around has- it's been really nice man. I just needed to tell you that I- I like you. And I really don't want us to fade into a disconnect because I really think you're funny, and I like being around you. But I… I'm really hoping you like me too." 

Benrey was still for a long, unblinking moment, their steely blue eyes locked with his own, as and the quiet stretched out between them, forming a sort of rift in Gordon's mind as his vision swam. Because oh _fuck_ , he probably just ruined the one good friend he'd managed to make in years, Benrey was just going to see him as the weird guy who'd gotten a crush on him after yelling at him for a few days straight and maybe hugging twice, and they were never going to _talk_ to each other again. Or at least not without the awkward, stilted tone that you used with someone you could never wholly forgive- 

And then their lips were on his own in a dizzying movement that left Gordon reeling for an entirely different reason. Benrey was _kissing_ him. It only took that scrambling realization before Gordon melted into the feeling of their hands cupping the side of his face. Ecstatically pulling them closer, Gordon moved his prosthetic around their waist while he held their cheek in his free hand, his thumb faltering as it ghosted over their skin. Benrey's mouth was still as chapped as they'd been from when he'd kissed the side of his face in the tent, but as their mouths moved in near sync with each other, one of Benrey's hands working into his loose hair to hold at the base of his head, Gordon couldn't have asked for anything else. 

Pulling back with a barely audible gasp, Gordon let his forehead rest against Benrey's own as he caught his breath. A smile tugged at Benrey's lips as they darted in for another kiss, shorter this time but no less perfect than the first one. Elation crackled up Gordon's spine like electricity as he felt Benrey grinning against his mouth, moving their head back to knock it into the space between his neck and shoulder, "Like you too. I- I have ever since you said sorry that first time in the tent. Dumb idiot being mean to me, have a stupid pretty face when you're mad. I had to bro." 

Gordon let out a soft breath against the back of Benrey's neck as he curled his head down over them as well, wrapping both his hands around their waist, "I was an ass, I don't know how you thought that was attractive in _any_ form." 

Shrugging, Gordon could feel as Benrey began to fiddle with the collar of his shirt, "Pretty face. Liked uh… Liked lookin' at you. Got all flustered when you were mad. Sucks because I pushed you too far, but uh… Weren't mean over it. Came and apologized, so I wanted to kiss your dumb nerd face about it." 

"And you _got_ to kiss my dumb nerd face about it," Gordon laughed, shifting his face so he could give the side of Benrey's head a quick peck, "I don't… I don't want to shatter the moment too quickly, as nice as this is, but uh, feel like you should know that Gman caught Judith. Arrested her and all that." 

Benrey pulled back to meet his eyes once more, a bright look in his expression, "For real? No clickbait?" 

Gordon bobbed his head in an affirmative, reaching back with one hand to dig the paper he'd folded up into his pocket and out to hand it to Benrey, "I didn't read the whole thing, but ah… Probably just boring arrest notes or whatever. Figured you'd wanna' know. Along those lines too is the question for what's gonna' happen to mewtwo also." 

Tensely glancing to him, Benrey re-folded the paper to place it into his own with em'? I figured I could take care of mewtwo because they uh. We got that understanding going on bro." 

"And I think you still could! Gman suggested though that mewtwo stays at the professor's house though. Something about how being in a normal environment or whatever would help it acclimate better. Learn about normal life. But since you both seemed to have some sort of connection, I was wondering if you'd, uh, if you'd want to come stay with me? And- I don't… I'm not telling you to drop whatever living quarters you've got going on right now but, if you wanted to?" 

Benrey flushed, glancing away from him with a small, nervous grin, "Kinda gay of you bro… Askin' me to come live with you? Share the same bed? Gordon likes to go fast, huh?" 

Gordon's face warmed at the insinuation, gaze flickering away as he let out a burst of laughter, " _Not_ like- you know that's not what I meant. We could probably fix up the guest room for you if you wanted. But if- if you _did_ want to share a bed that- that'd be okay with me too." 

"Yeah, I'd uh, be cool to move in with you... Cringe ass living with his parents. Need some swagger up in that house bro. Severe lack of it, can- can sense the lame aura off of you Freeman." 

Chest buzzing with a barely contained laugh at Benrey's nonsense, Gordon laced his fingers with Benrey's own, "You can't just keep up with the Feetman joke man, you've gotta get some new material. Or at least let me know _your_ last name so I can make fun of it too." 

"Don't dis on my jokes bro," Benrey said a little too quickly, eyes darting away from his with a weakly hidden embarrassed look and absolutely ignoring Gordon's query. 

"Wait, your- you never said your last name man, you've gotta give me something here," Gordon said with a pleased little grin, "It _can't_ be nearly as bad as Coolatta." 

"Mleh mluh, _ssshut_ ," Benrey hissed, clapping one hand over Gordon's mouth as they glared, "No- no more. You can't laugh. I will leave. I'm- I'll walk back into the Chuck E Cheese by myself and lock you out bro. Poor Gordos Feetman has to stay outside in the cold. No laughing okay." 

Still grinning against Benrey's palm, Gordon vigorously nodded. 

"Lover." 

Gordon's reaction was almost immediate, pulling Benrey closer so they couldn't wiggle away to actually lock him outside as he laughed. It- it wasn't _really_ that funny, but the buildup Benrey gave him to it everything all the more effective for making him double over. 

Despite his efforts though, Benrey managed to scrabble out of his hold, immediately tearing off for the front of the building, the glimmer in their dull eyes betraying their emotions, "Locking you outside!" 

"Oh shit," Sucking in a cold breath of air, Gordon jogged after Benrey to hopefully prevent himself from being left in the cold. Their laughs echoed around the empty parking lot as Gordon chased Benrey around, the warmth flooding Gordon's body, reminding him of how Benrey's form had fitted so nicely around his own, pulling his smile a bit wider as he rounded the corner. A soft reminder that even if Benrey did manage to get to the doors first, he wouldn't be left out for long. Regardless, Gordon put on a burst of speed to try and beat them there anyway, feeling a whole lot freer than he had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAYEAHYEAHHH!!!!!!!!!! i love this chapter sm actually... just da background actions ov erybody... gman being poignant... silly confession.... benrey's last name beingf lover... im very happy w how this one turned out :)  
> theres still gon be an epilogue and a fun facts chapter thas gonna come after this but!!!!!! for the main story-line aside from wrapping things up, s over bros... im saving all my thank you's for da epilogue because i cannot compile a list of all the people to thank with the brainpower i have rn for the life of me but!!!! i love y'all.. ty SO much for reading this, especially to everyone who commented :]] y'all ar da real ones who kept me going with this.  
> epilogue might take me a week or so to write but! i hope y'all will enjoy it jus as much as u did this chapter!


	19. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IN LIGHT OF THE ACT 4 COMMENTARY COMING OUT TODAY AS WELL AS THE BENREY PLUSHIE I HAVE NOW PRE-ORDERED. YALL GET DA EPILOGUE TODAY!!! its a bit longer than i expected it to be (still shorter than all da other chapters) but!! its jus som extra fluff for u guys :]] hope yall like it!!!  
> btw ima put out da fun-facts chapter tomorrow because i don't gotta lot ov time tonight but!! s jus a lil extra info abt dis fic

In the end, Benrey did move in with Gordon. Dr. Coomer was more than happy to let Benrey stay, and it meant they got to put a more forward effort into raising mewtwo. It felt like more of an uphill battle since the Pokémon was already so strong and could outright fly to the top of the house if it didn't want to do something, but luckily it wasn't too long before it was coming back down in search of treats. 

Benrey acclimated well in the sense that they already seemed to thrive on chaos, and the Coomer's rambunctious personalities only seemed to make them all the more energized. They'd hardly flinched as Bubby's reuniclus sent an energy ball flying over their shoulder. If anything, they'd egged the two on, perching atop the counter and cheering as Gordon had desperately scrambled around the wreckage that was the lab to try and put out the fire that'd somehow started in the corner. 

Things weren't in _constant_ upheaval though. Gordon stepped back from his gym to help train mewtwo alongside everyone else and donned his lab assistant role again. Benrey had taken on some sort of streaming career, Gordon wasn't quite sure what they played, but as long as they seemed to be enjoying themselves, he didn't bug them about it. Gordon did see them showing off mewtwo on one of their streams, though, and he could only imagine their viewers' reaction to the strange legendary Pokémon. 

It was a relief and a billion other added stressors on his life at the same time to work for the Coomer's again. He was happy to finally be back doing something he enjoyed, but it also meant he was actually having to go out and _do_ that job again, which was a lot more physically taxing than it had been in past years. Luckily, he did have someone else to help him out now, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. 

Gordon was thoroughly roused from his sleep hazy state from Benrey's fidgeting. Their head was resting on his stomach despite them both being in sleeping bags and having completely viable pillows. Benrey rolled over so their face was pressed entirely into his belly, which Gordon figured would be extremely uncomfortable, but Benrey didn't seem keen on moving from the spot either, so he let him rest. 

Neither of them had slept apart since Benrey had moved in, which had turned out to be a good thing for the both of them. And it wasn't like they hadn't set up that second room for Benrey either! It just quickly became apparent that they each slept a lot better with someone else by their side. He and Benrey weren't the biggest fans of the dark, so it was nice to be able to wake up after a particularly bad dream and curl into someone else to beat the remnants of a nightmare away. Plus, the early morning and late-night cuddles were an added positive too. 

Reaching his hand down to tangle it in Benrey's hair, Gordon flicked his gaze to the semi-brightened walls of their tent. It probably wasn't quite dawn yet, but from what milky light was filtering through was just enough to see by. As Gordon looked back to Benrey, he found their half-lidded gaze locked with his own, their fingers tapping out some odd rhythm against the side of the sleeping bag. 

"Morning," Gordon mumbled, a smile creeping over his features as Benrey pressed his face back into the sleeping bag as they mumbled out something in return. Untangling his hand from his partner's hair, Gordon sat up with a yawn, shuffling his upper half out of the sleeping bag so he could reach over to grab his prosthetic. As he fitted the limb from its sticker adorned portable charger onto his arm, Gordon watched as Benrey rolled off him with a groan. 

"Sleep in longer?" Benrey asked with a hopeful tone, having worked both of his arms back into the sleeping bag and pulled the hood back up, so just their face was poking out. 

"Nope," Gordon said quickly as he shuffled the rest of the way out of his sleeping bag, "The rapidash herd is supposed to be moving in sometime this morning, and I don't want to miss it." 

Benrey groaned out an obnoxiously loud string of consonants, pulling the hood down over their eyes as they sunk lower into the sleeping bag. While his partner made increasingly louder sighs of protest, Gordon slipped out of his sleep clothes and put a new clean set on, zipping a jacket up over his shirt as well, "I can go on my own if you don't want to come with?" 

And almost immediately, Benrey was at his side, rooting through his backpack to fish out some clean clothes for himself as well. While Benrey changed, Gordon grabbed his notebook from off the floor along with his granbull's Pokéball in case things went south. He was just supposed to be checking the herd's numbers to make sure they were doing alright after the mudslide that happened in one of their grazing grounds, but a little bit of notetaking wouldn't hurt anyone. 

As soon as Benrey was dressed, Gordon was scampering out of the tent, eager to get to the field before the Pokémon arrived in case their presence scared them off. 

On their way up the hillside to where they were supposed to wait, Gordon spotted the retreating end of a stantler through the brush and a curious pachirisu peering down at them from the branches above. Benrey claimed to have seen a dusclops plodding through the trees as well, but if the Pokémon had even been there at all, it was gone by the time Gordon turned to look. 

Eventually though, they did arrive at the hilltop they were supposed to be on. The vast grassy expanse of land stretched out before them, long grasses swaying ahead of their spot and conveniently concealing their location. Patches of wildflowers dotted the hardy grass, and there was a cluster of thin pines just opposite their position. It probably would have been a more optimal hiding space, being nearly in the center of the field, but judging by the abrupt rumbling, they didn't have the time to try and head over there. 

Hunkering down a little further in the grass and having to pull Benrey down as the hoofbeats grew closer, Gordon eagerly watched the far-left side of the field for the Pokémon's arrival. As the sound reached a crescendo, the herd streaked into view, they looked to be slowing down as predicted, but they were still going _astonishingly_ fast. The lead mare reared to a stop a distance off to their right, its mane blazing brighter as it rose onto its hind legs. 

The rest of the herd came to a stop around the large mare, idly trotting out to either rest or graze. So, quietly, Gurdon pulled his notebook open to tally down the numbers he spotted and how many ponyta seemed to be among the herd as well. Luckily, they didn't seem to be faring too badly after the mudslide, but there were a few apparent losses in the group. They were numbers that'd be fixed relatively easily over a few generations, but for now, the herd was a little smaller. 

Meanwhile, Benrey seemed to be weaving a few stalks of the grass they'd pulled down to weave into a bracelet. Gordon watched them with a fond expression, tempted to settle down into the dewy grass next to them and ask them to teach him how to make a bracelet like that as well, but he still did have some notes to finish. 

Writing down the distinct individuals he saw, Gordon compared the notes he'd been given before to the ones he was taking now, charting down the differences and who would probably be needing to have an eye on them. He was near totally lost in his thoughts till he felt a tug on the side of his shirt, glancing down in Benrey's direction to see what they needed. 

"Yo, what do you think would happen if I ran out there and scared them bro," He whispered. 

Gordon huffed out a laugh as he glanced back to the lead rapidash still surveying the land, "You'd get chased down I think." 

There was a calculating look that flashed through Benrey's eyes as he glanced back out to the herd, slipping the woven bracelet onto his wrist; Benrey made a movement as if to stand that Gordon quickly aborted by pulling them to the ground again. Instead of going down smoothly though, Benrey latched a firm grip around his forearms and tugged Gordon down on top of him. 

Letting out a startled laugh at the action, Gordon quickly stiffened up as both he and Benrey turned their eyes to the herd once more because if that lead rapidash _did_ find them, it was very likely they were going to be facing a whole hoard battle. The mare jerked its head up, nostrils flaring as it scented the air for any intruders, pawing at the ground with one sharpened hoof. After a long moment, the rapidash let its gaze turn elsewhere, and Gordon let out a silent breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, knocking his forehead against Benrey's. 

"You're such an asshole, you know that?" Gordon grumbled, pressing a quick kiss to his partner's nose as they exhaled against his neck. 

"Still woulda' been funny though," Benrey said, wrapping their arms around his back and curling their head up to better peer through the space in the grass, "A ponyta _is_ coming over here to stomp all over you though." 

And just as Gordon looked up to confirm that, did a ponyta begin snuffling at the top of his head. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed the Pokémon's approach, but he wasn't about to wave it off in case it alerted the rapidash of their presence. Glaring down at Benrey as the young Pokémon began mouthing at his hair, he gingerly leaned back so they could wriggle their way out from beneath him. 

"Can you _please_ keep this Pokémon from eating any more of my hair than it already has?" 

Offering him a begrudging sigh that was just quiet enough for Gordon not to worry about it, he gingerly guided the ponyta's head away from Gordon's, offering it a small handful of grass instead. The Pokémon was moments away from eating out of his palm when it abruptly jerked its head upright, looking skywards with its ears perked. And all at once, the herd abruptly took off toward the rocky slope at the left side of the field, vaulting over the rubble there with graceful bounds. 

Benrey huffed as he sat back on his heels, brushing excess dirt off his palms, "Was abouta' have a fuckin' disney princess moment bro… Dumb Pokémon gotta' run away and ruin it though man, so sucks for me." 

Gordon was about to clap a mocking hand onto Benrey's shoulder to express some faux sympathy, but the sudden rush of air over the meadow effectively distracted him. A vast shadow swept over the field, soon followed up by the thing casting it. 

The Pokémon's feathered body hardly seemed to ruffle in the wind, gigantic, curved wings spread out to the sides gracefully. Its legs were tucked up beneath its snow-colored torso, partially hidden by its pinwheel of golden tail feathers. As its head tilted back at just the right angle for its angular crimson eye to lock onto them, Gordon felt a shiver run down his back, making him sit up a bit straighter. Jerking its head forwards once more, the Pokémon opened its angular beak and let out a shrill cry before beating its wings and sailing up into the sky. 

He and Benrey were quiet for a long moment before his partner oh so gently broke the silence with, "Was that fucking _Ho-Oh_?" 

Wheezing out a laugh, Gordon smacked Benrey in their shoulder, earning a smile in return, "We- we fucking see this big-ass Pokémon, a fucking _legendary_ that's rarely ever seen to the point where its very _existence_ is questioned and- and you ask if that was _really_ it?" 

"Yeah, well maybe I didn't know, huh? Weird fucking pidgeot flying through the sky, and you're getting all twisted up over it. Chill out man, it's just a flying type. Hundreds more of em' all over." 

Keeling over, Gordon shook his head, "Dude, you _cannot_ call Ho-Oh a fucking pidgeot. It's going to come back and send a fireball at you or something." 

"Don't know what you're talking bout' bro," Benrey mused, helping Gordon back to his feet, "Don't think pidgeot can learn any fire-type moves. You've gotta protect me if it comes back though. Protect best friend Benny? Gordon Niceman?" 

"Yeah, yeah; I'd protect you. But we'd better get out of here before everything starts waking up." 

Grumbling something under his breath, Benrey grabbed ahold of Gordon's hand, slipping on another one of the grass made bracelets, "Nice. Now we match." 

Offering a soft smile to his partner, Gordon threaded both of their hands together, twin bracelets hanging off their wrists as he headed back down the hill to their tent. There was already a skip in his step just from seeing the Pokémon, but the presence of his partner at his side was more than enough to make him grin. So with a brief squeeze to Benrey's hand, they continued back down toward their tent, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWAWWAHH AND THATS THE END... fr im actually really proud of this fic like... so much and it makes me so happy with all the positive reception i got on it... pokemon has been my main interest ever since i was a kid and bein able to combine it w hlvrai was SO fun and i really enjoyed making it!! this chappy is left like. tying up loose ends than i thought it was gonna be, but i like it nonetheless.. ho-oh's appearance specifically for them... man. MAN. i went buck-wild imagining that up.
> 
> ty to labyrinth_lockpick, Core4Lost, obsidian_heartz, Ginger_Core, a_lost_pigeon, and KatOnFire!! yall were my regular commenters and my main motivation to keep dis fic going. i really thrive on comments so seeing what yall enjoyed was a super huge confidence booster fo me!!  
> And my biggest thanks to scp963 in particular. bro... u have been here fo SO many ov my fics, offering me corrections and jus sayin nice things abt my writin... it means more to me than u will ever know bro. i fr hope ur doing well and i wish u da best ov luck in all dat u do!!! u were a fr huge inspo for me to push on w this fic and u were alwayz so nice in ur comments and i genuinely enjoy dem sm... ty for being so swag bro <3 ily /p
> 
> i hope yall enjoyed dis doe! ty to erybody who commented, kudo-ed and read this i grin super huge!! :]] if yall wan talk to me abt this or anything rlly!! im available on insta at Citrinegator (same user as here lol) imb a lil shy but i swear im not mean lol. anyway!! ty to erybody who's reading this and!! *muah* kisses u on cheek politely.


	20. fun facts/ extra info! ! !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YUEAHH HELLO!!! this is jus some extra thoughts i had about this AU that i wanted to include!! my head been full o thoughts abt these dudes...

Everybody's Pokémon teams!! 

Gordon: Chesnaught (Xavier), Incineroar (Shari), Lucario (Joshua), Zangoose (Angel), Granbull (Daisy), Darmanitan (Wyatt) 

I named Gordon’s darmanitan Wyatt because I thought that was Wayne’s real name for a good long while before I learned what it actually was. I’m not going to go back and change it though because Wyatt fits better. 

Benrey: Midnight Lycanroc (Stong), Cacturne (Bones), Gengar (Jeffrem), Chimecho (Sweety), Porygon-z (Gamer), Absol (Nariko) 

I was tempted to make Benrey’s absol a shiny as well to match Actual Nariko’s color palette better but two shinies for them was too OP I decided lol. 

Tommy: Arcanine (Shiny (Sunkist)), Heliolisk (Pepsi), Dewgong (Ginger), Dragonite (Sprite), Goodra (Fanta), Altaria (Sierra) 

YES, all of Tommy’s Pokémon are named after sodas. 

Forzen: Empoleon (Tyson), Noivern, Salazzle, Excadrill, Rampardos, Low key Toxtricity 

I know Forzen's a ranger so he 'technically' doesn't have a team aside from his partner Pokémon but! I think those are some Pokémon he'd have if he was a regular trainer. 

I had already given Forzen an empoleon before I realized that was your starter Pokémon in the original Pokémon ranger game. I just chose it for him because piplup are moody and I like to think Pokémon reflect their trainers a bit. The empoleon's name IS a direct rip from Pokémon ranger though lol. 

Actually, Forzen was so close to being a guardian signs ranger. If I hadn't mentioned the noivern earlier on Gordon would have had to get out of the forest on his own because Forzen would have summoned latias to fly after Tommy and Benrey lol. I like the story how it is but... Forzen guardian signs ranger... 

Darnold: Roserade, Liepard, Toxicroak, Azumarill, Polteageist, Sunflora 

Darnold has a sunflora as a tiny reference to Y2KVR and how everybody would send him flowers (sunflowers specifically) in their messages. 

All of Darnold’s Pokémon either know a water or poison type move because as a poison type researcher he needs bases and samples both! 

And yes Darnold did get an approval from that committee to start making some more affective health potions! He's got a job in a lab doing that now! 

Dr. Coomer: Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Machamp, Breloom, Pangoro, Bewear 

Since Dr. Coomer was a member of the Elite Four before becoming a professor he uses all fighting types!! 

(I made the tiniest hint to it just by color reference, but the person who took that position over after Coomer gave up being a member of the Elite Four to go be another professor with Bubby was Alyx!) 

Bubby: Sableye, Blue stripe Basculin, Eelektross, Magmortar, Reuniclus, Glaceon 

YES Bubby has an eeveelution. I originally considered giving him a flareon but glaceon fits his personality better. Plus. They both blue. 

Gman: Alakazam, Hydreigon, Ageislash, Malamar, Spiritomb, Trevenant (Shiny) 

Gman has a shiny trevenant to be a recurring theme as Tommy has a shiny Pokémon as well, but also because I thought it was a scarier color and it had a glowing blue eye, so it matched Gman’s motif very well. 

Before I remembered Gman had an alakazam that could just straight up teleport him to the Chuck E Cheese I almost had him clutch onto his ageislash for dear life to have it fly him there. Which. It obviously didn't happen, but do u know how FUNNY that would have been. Business man holding onto this giant sword Pokémon with his whole body a completely dead expression on his face... 

General info!: 

Bubby originally came from a different region to the one that everybody is in now and ended up becoming the professor mostly by accident seeing as the position was unfilled and he already had a lot of knowledge about the place he was moving to. 

Coomer probably met Bubby a few years after his divorce by accident and he didn’t recognize him as the professor of the region, but Bubby knew he was Elite Four, so he tried to be respectful. It didn’t go so well, and he probably snapped at Coomer over something trivial but instead of being put off by it Coomer was more than a little charmed and they hit it off from there. 

If it wasn’t already obvious, Gordon and Darnold are more like siblings here than anything. 

Since I’m a fan of the ship, Tommy, Forzen and Darnold all get together after everything is over. 

Tommy and Benrey met a few weeks after Benrey left the organization. Benrey was chilling around this motel that Tommy stays at when he needs to go someplace indiscreet for 'Champion Business' (wanting to take a break from the public eye) and they hit it off from there! They grew to be closer friends to Benrey eventually divulging bits about the group he accidentally started and the both of them coming to a consensus that it needed to be stopped. So! Tommy did some digging to figure out what they were after and eventually went to find someone who had more info about mew (Since that's what the group was after) leading them to Gordon! 

Gordon never completed the league purely because A. Wow those sure are some... Strong trainers! I... don't think I can beat them! *turns the other way and never fights them despite being completely capable* and B. Gordon's not super battle motivated and wanted to put more of his effort toward helping the Coomer's out rather than pursue that path. 

Ho-Oh’s appearance wasn’t just for show!! Benrey and Gordon dating has both made them better people I think and Ho-Oh only show’s itself for ‘pure-hearted’ trainers. Which. Benrey and Gordon do not exactly fit the bill. But I’m imagining that their growth together and caring for mewtwo and seeing mew earlier on had attracted a lot of stronger Pokémon’s attention. Ho-Oh was checking in to make sure they were doing alright lol. 

Tommy, Forzen and Bubby are unfairly good at bonding with Pokémon. Tommy’s just very nice so they like him, and he gives the ones he meets regularly treats, Forzen is a ranger so it’s his JOB to get Pokémon to like him so he’s got all the tricks up his sleeves, and Bubby runs warmer, so Pokémon like to be around him. Gordon tries his hardest to be likable, but he really has to try and earn Pokémon’s respect and Coomer just has an aggression radius I think. Benrey is neutral for Pokémon prolly in likability wise and Gman… They fear him. 

Both Darnold and Gordon are trans in this fic. It wasn’t explicitly stated but I tried to drop as many hints as I could when the timing felt right. The both of them were kicked from their households at a young age and went to live with the professors, (Darnold is a bit older than Gordon so I imagine he went there before Gordon did and that’s how Gordon figured out where to go when he had to leave his house because he knew Darnold at a younger age.) Darnold had his own thing going on with potions, so he moved out to get his own place after finishing his schooling, but Gordon was interested in the fieldwork, so he stayed with Bubby and Coomer for longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i may add more to this later on if i think of anything else but!!! thas da end of this!!! ifv any o yall make fanart... i would give u such a polite kiss.... please send a link of it over to my insta if u do make sum o any o my fics because id go wild to see em... also!! if anyone ever wants to do anotha hlvrai au!! go on ahead!! i aint tryna hold dominion over it or anything and id love to see more stuff fo dis or what pokemon yall would think erybody haz!!!

**Author's Note:**

> yooo, no beta reader for me lol, writing this on a whim and learning as i go so feel free to correct me in da comments if u notice somethings off.


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